# data[].attributes.body
Sorting cards can be used to help students who are struggling to master the basics of digraphs.

# data[].attributes.headline
Nonsense words: Consonant Digraph Assessment

# data[].attributes.subject
Nonsense words: Consonant Digraph Assessment

# data[].attributes.headline
Research-Based Methods of Reading Instruction for English Language Learners: Phonics

# data[].attributes.subject
Research-Based Methods of Reading Instruction for English Language Learners: Phonics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
by Sylvia Linan-Thompson and Sharon Vaughn

In a recent conversation, teachers of English language learners (ELLS) voiced concerns about the teaching of phonics to students in their classes who have several levels of English proficiency."English is so irregular, it doesn't make sense to teach students all the rules because there are so many exceptions."
"True," continued another teacher, "but students have to learn the relationship between letters and sounds to learn to read and spell." "But does it make sense," wondered another teacher, "to teach students the rules if they don't know what many of the words mean? What concerns me is that one of the principles of English as a second language instruction is that we should teach in context to support student learning, but phonics is often taught in isolation and is very decontextualized." "How can we make instruction more meaningful?" asked the fourth teacher.
The above points are valid and worthy of consideration in planning phonics instruction for ELLs. In this chapter we discuss what we know about teaching phonics to English language learners and provide some activities that have been effective in schools. We describe a phonics approach to instruction that includes a range of skills from alphabetic knowledge to reading in decodable books-everything you need to know for word study.

What Is Phonics and Word Study Instruction?

Gough and Tumner (1986) identified two basic processes necessary to learn to read: learning to convert letters into recognizable words and comprehending the meaning of print. Learning to convert letters to recognizable words requires knowledge of the relationship between sounds and the letters or other symbols that represent them, then remembering the exact patterns and sequences that may represent various speech sounds (Goswami, 2006; Moats, 2000). The orthographic system of a language consists of the relationship among the visual symbols used in the writing system, the mapping of these symbols onto speech, and meaning (Seymour, 2006). As children map sounds to print, they are also accessing the words in their vocabularies. They use this knowledge to support them in identifying the word they are reading. Although there are similarities in learning to read across languages, differences in the orthography of the language lead to differences in how long it takes to learn to read and how much difficulty some children may have. In some languages, like Finnish, Italian, and Spanish, the relationship between letters or symbols and sounds is fairly consistent-that is, there are few exceptions and fewer relationships to learn. Other languages, like Kanji, English, and Danish, are not as consistent. There are many inconsistencies in English that puzzle English language learners.

Children have to learn which letters have consistent relationships and which do not, and when to apply the rules that govern them. For children learning English as a second language, understanding the relationship between letters and sounds is critical, since some of the sounds will be new to them-sounds they have not heard or spoken as meaningful units of speech. They may be applying a phoneme (sound) from their home language to a different grapheme (letter) or using letters alone or in combinations that do not exist in their home language. In addition, they lose the advantage provided by accessing their knowledge of words, since their English vocabularies may be limited.

Converting letters to recognizable print can be taught through phonics instruction and can lead to students comprehending the meaning of text. Phonics is an approach in which children are taught to decode words by using and applying their knowledge of the relationship between letters and individual sounds to read. In planning phonics instruction for ELLs, you will have to decide among several forms of phonics instruction. All the approaches include instruction in letter-sound relationships but vary in the explicitness of the instruction and how systematic the process is in determining the sequence of instruction. In synthetic approaches to instruction, students are taught the individual letter-sound relationships and then taught explicitly to blend the letters into words. Teachers who use embedded phonics teach letter-sound relationships during the reading of connected text. Embedded phonics is less explicit than synthetic phonics instruction.

An effective phonics program for English language learners uses a synthetic approach that follows a defined sequence and includes direct teaching of a set of letter-sound relationships. Each instructional set includes major sound-spelling relationships of both consonants and vowels. This sequencing arrangement provides students opportunities not only to begin to learn the relationship between letters and sounds but also to use that knowledge to begin blending these sounds to read words and to segregate the sounds to write words even before they have learned all the letter-sound correspondences. For ELLs, who are learning to read in an inconsistent orthography like English, instruction using analogy-based phonics provides children an additional strategy for reading a larger number of words as they are building their English oral language skills. In addition, the program should include books and stories that contain a large number of words that children can decode by using the letter-sound relationships they have learned and are learning. Finally, programs should provide ELLs opportunities to spell words and write their own stories with the letter-sound relationships they are learning (Blevins, 1998; Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement [CIERA], 2001; NRP, 2000; Texas Education Agency [TEA], 2000). English language learners struggling with reading acquisition who receive explicit phonics instruction as part of comprehensive literacy instruction tend to develop stronger foundational reading skills (Denton, Anthony, & Parker, 2004; Linan-Thompson & Hickman-Davis, 2002; Vaughn et al., 2006). Even students with limited English proficiency made gains in reading skills, indicating that a wide range of ELLs benefit from explicit instruction.

Good readers rely primarily on letter-sound correspondences in words rather than context or pictures to identify words; use reliable strategies to decode words; and read words enough times so that they become automatic. Phonics instruction provides ELLs the knowledge needed to develop those same skills effectively and efficiently by providing a road map for making sense of how English works as well as effective decoding strategies. However, phonics instruction should not be the entire reading program, but rather it should be integrated into other elements of reading instruction, such as language activities, story time, and small-group tutoring to create a balanced reading program. Learning to read in languages with less-consistent orthographies like English takes longer than learning to read in languages with more consistent orthographies (Seymour, 2006). For most students, two years of phonics is sufficient; other students may require more instruction. English language learners whose initial reading instruction is in English may require more time, since they are learning both a new language and a new process. Older ELLs or those who learned to read in their home language will still need phonics instruction to learn the structure of English but may acquire the knowledge more quickly. Use assessment information to adapt phonics programs to meet the needs of individual students (NRP, 2000). Most important, starting early is key: "Early and systematic instruction in phonics seems to lead to better achievement in reading than later and less systematic instruction" (Stahl, 2001, p. 333).

Why Should I Teach Phonics and Word Study?

Imagine trying to put together a 1,000-piece puzzle without a picture for reference. You might begin using strategies such as finding all the pieces that have a straight edge to form the perimeter and then grouping pieces by color. Through trial and error, you would begin to form the picture. Children learning to read in English are faced with the same situation when they are given bits and pieces of information about English orthography, but not a systematic way of learning, applying, and practicing the spelling patterns and rules they are learning.

Children learning to read in English have to learn the letter-sound relationships among 44 speech sounds and more than 100 spellings used to represent them (Blevins, 1998; Bos & Vaughn, 2006). In addition, students have to apply this knowledge to read both known and unknown words in isolation and in context, and they need to be able to read irregular words. Although it might seem that English is too irregular to teach systematically, there are enough regularities to make a systematic approach to phonics instruction appropriate. For example, the teaching of vowels is often identified as an area for concern in teaching English language learners, but we can see from the table that the exceptions account for fewer than one-third of the words (see Figure 3.1).

Figure 3.1. Phonics Rules and the Percentage of Exceptions to Them

Phonics and word study instruction provide an opportunity to teach children that there are systematic relationships between letters and sounds, that written words are composed of letter patterns that represent the sounds of spoken words, and that recognizing words quickly and accurately is a way of obtaining meaning from what is read. In addition, children learn that they can blend the sounds to read words and segment words into sounds to spell (Adams, 1990; Chard & Osborn, 1999; NRP, 2000).

What Elements Should I Include in My Phonics and Word Study Instruction?

We know that ELLs can learn to read in English even when their oral skills in English are not fully developed (Gunn et al., 2000; Hudelson, 1984), but this instruction is more effective if it is accompanied by development of their oral language skills (Gersten & Baker, 2003). Most important, given that it takes longer to learn to read in English than it does in most languages, reading instruction should not be withheld until children have attained oral language proficiency in English (Quiroga et al., 2002). Because the development of reading processes for ELLs is essentially the same as that for native English speakers, you can use the same instructional sequence (Edelsky, 1981a, 1981b; Hudelson, 1984). Therefore, provide instruction that includes print awareness, alphabetic knowledge, phonological and phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle, decoding, irregular/high-frequency words, reading practice with decodable text, and reading fluency when children enter school. The exception would be for children who speak no English at all. Two of these elements, phonological and phonemic awareness and reading fluency, are covered in depth in Chapters 3 and 5, respectively.

How much time you spend on each of these elements will depend on the age, level, English proficiency, and previous reading experience of your students. As children participate in phonics and word study activities, their understanding of the conventions that govern spoken and written language will increase. These elements do not have to be taught sequentially, and the rate at which students acquire these skills will vary. In general, however, kindergarten students benefit from instruction that teaches prerequisite skills for strong word recognition, the communicative function of print, alphabetic knowledge, phonemic awareness, and the alphabetic principle (Chard, Simmons, and Kame'enui, 1998). Most students who have had effective phonics instruction can read quickly and easily and have an effective decoding strategy for reading unknown words. English language learners will also need to develop their oral language skills as they are acquiring reading skills.

For each of the crucial elements, a brief description and characteristics of effective programs are provided.

Print Awareness

Students who understand that written language is related to oral language and that printed language carries messages have print awareness. They also know that the structures of written language are different from spoken language and know the difference between words and nonwords (Blevins, 1998; Reutzel & Cooter, 1999; TEA, 2000). This awareness of the forms and functions of printed language is a reliable predictor of future reading achievement.

Children develop print awareness when they have opportunities to hear books and participate in read-aloud activities. To help students develop print awareness, you can reinforce the forms and functions of print found in classroom signs, labels, posters, calendars, etc.; teach and reinforce print conventions, such as print directionality, word boundaries, capital letters, and end punctuation; and teach and reinforce book awareness and book handling. These activities will be critical for students who come from home languages that use right-to-left or up-and-down directionality in reading, such as Hebrew or some Asian languages. You can also allow children to practice what they are learning by listening to and participating in the reading of predictable and patterned stories and books, and you can provide opportunities to practice with predictable and patterned books (Reutzel & Cooter, 1999; TEA, 2000). These activities help ELLs not only develop print awareness but also gain knowledge of English vocabulary. However, students will be less likely to be able to use context and picture clues if they are in the beginning stages of English development. Use books and stories that have illustrations that are highly correlated to the story to explicitly build vocabulary.

Alphabetic Knowledge

The goal of instruction that develops alphabet knowledge is to get children to recognize and name letters quickly and accurately (Adams, 1990). Knowledge of letter names is strongly related to children's ability to remember the forms of written words, to treat words as sequences of letters, and to develop the alphabetic principle: the association of letters with their corresponding sounds. Alphabetic knowledge progresses from letter names to letter shapes (the form) to letter sounds. Learning letter names and sounds seems straightforward; however, children whose home language is logographic will also be learning a new alphabet system, while children from other alphabetic languages may only be learning new names and sounds for letters they have seen before. You may need to provide more explicit instruction and more opportunities to practice those sounds and letters that have no equivalent in children's home language, since they may have difficulty hearing and pronouncing them. Their inability to pronounce some sounds does not necessarily indicate lack of knowledge. While you want to support children in pronouncing the sounds correctly by demonstrating how to position the mouth, teeth, and tongue, be careful not to turn the lesson into a speech lesson or to stop instruction of new letters until they master one that is difficult to pronounce. Figure 3.2 provides an example of some of the sounds that may be difficult for children from some language groups.

Figure 3.2. Sounds That Are Difficult for ELLs

Children who do not know letter names and sounds, whether due to lack of instruction or because they are just learning English, need planned instruction that provides many opportunities to see, play with, and compare letters. Some children can learn several letters each week, while others may only learn one. Include games, songs, and other activities that help children identify and name letters, provide activities in which children learn uppercase and lowercase forms of letters, and point out differences and similarities among the letters. In addition, plan writing activities that encourage children to practice making the letters they are learning and provide them opportunities to experiment with and manipulate letters to make words and messages (Blevins, 1998; TEA, 2000).

Alphabetic Understanding

Alphabetic principle refers to the systematic relationship between phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letters). In particular, English language learners need to know that in English

Some letters represent more than one sound

Different letters can represent the same sound

Sounds can be represented by a single letter or combinations of letters

To help children understand the alphabetic principle, include the following practices in your teaching:

1. Teach letter-sound correspondences explicitly and in isolation initially; then provide multiple opportunities daily to practice using this new knowledge to read and write.

2. Provide practice opportunities with new letter-sound relationships as well as previously taught relationships.

3. Give your ELLs opportunities to apply their knowledge of letter-sound relationships to the reading of phonetically spelled words that are familiar in meaning (TEA, 2000).

4. Provide additional practice in the sounds that are not part of a student's home language.

Remember, effective instruction in the alphabetic principle requires that teachers plan and sequence instruction to avoid teaching words that have a similar look or sound, since they might be confusing for ELLs. Once you start phonics and word study instruction, some students will begin to make connections between letters and sounds on their own. However, many of your students will need even more explicit instruction to learn all the letter-sounds correspondences they will need to know.
Decoding and Reading Practice with Decodable Text

Decoding is the understanding of how to read letter or letter patterns in a word to determine the word and its meaning. English language learners who can decode words have a strategy for reading unknown words. Furthermore, once children have developed this understanding and can apply it to read words, they can begin to read words rapidly, automatically, and effortlessly. This will allow them to focus on getting meaning from what they are reading (NRP, 2000; TEA, 2000). For ELLs, the level of their knowledge of English will impact meaning. Many children will learn to decode but will not be able to gain meaning from text until they have sufficient vocabulary. Chapters 5 and 6 provide many activities for building children's vocabulary and comprehension.

Initially, provide opportunities to work with word families, spelling patterns, and onsets and rimes. The use of analogy-based phonics will be useful at this point. Once students are familiar with letter-sound correspondences, teach students to use that knowledge to read unknown words. In analogy-based phonics, students use their knowledge of a word they know-for example, night-to read similar words, such as light or plight.

As students become more sophisticated readers, they will need more advanced decoding strategies that focus on the structure of words. This knowledge provides ELLs a strategy for segmenting multisyllable words into decodable parts and for determining the meaning of the word (Henry, 1997). In particular, teaching affixes shows children that there are word parts that are common across words. This will help them with reading, spelling, and accessing meaning because it highlights the regularities in the language. Learning to analyze the structure of words provides students knowledge of letter combinations, derivatives. and affixes.

Instruction should include the meaning of word parts, such as the following:

Inflectional ending-a meaningful word part (morpheme), such as -ed or -es, that indicates tense, number, person, or gender when added to a base word

Prefix-a word part, such as pre-, in-, orun-, at the beginning of a base word

Suffix-a word part, such as -ful or -ly, at the end of a base word

When teaching structural analysis, teach the meanings along with recognition and model how to look for word parts. Teaching students to use structural analysis will increase the number of words they can decode easily. Consider the following. The most common affixes in the primary grades are re-, un-, con-, -ness, -ful, and -ion. The prefixes un-, re-, in-, im-, ir-, il-, and dis- are used in 58 percent of all prefixed words. Three inflectional endings, -s/-es, -ed, and -ing are found in 65 percent of words that have inflectional endings and suffixes (White, Sowell, & Yanagihara, 1989). In addition, many prefixes and inflectional endings are common across languages.
Effective programs provide students opportunities to use their knowledge of letter-sound correspondences to practice decoding words in isolation and in text and teach students the meaning of unknown words to provide context for their reading. Instruction in the meaning of words should not be time-consuming when the focus of instruction is phonics, but should rather be a quick introduction with a picture or other visual or easy definitions-just enough to give the students context. More in-depth vocabulary instruction can take place in a preview or review session. The use of decodable text lets teachers model how to blend and segment sounds, sound out words when unknown, and use onset-rimes or word chunks to decode words.

Reading decodable text should include discussions about the text to promote comprehension and reinforce the idea that the purpose of reading is to get meaning (TEA, 2000). While decodable books offer students opportunities to expand their new skills in decoding, gradually introduce them to books and stories that are less controlled to extend both their reading skills and exposure to new vocabulary.

Irregular Words

Not all words can be read completely using a decoding strategy. Irregular words are less phonetically regular, that is, some or all the letters in the word do not represent their most commonly used sound. Irregular words may be the most difficult for English language learners, because students have to learn these words by sight and in many cases the words will not be a part of either their receptive or expressive vocabularies.

These elements are important components in beginning reading instruction, whether students are just learning to read or have just immigrated to the United States and are learning to read in English. Systematically teaching children the structure of English beginning with letter-sound correspondences through the reading of connected text gives students a framework for making sense of English orthography. Daily, integrated lessons that include explicit introduction of letter-sound relationships and provide opportunities to blend the sounds to read words, to build words, to read decodable texts, and to practice spelling words will enhance students' beginning reading experience (Blevins, 1998).

The rate at which children move through the stages described above will depend on their age, knowledge of the reading process, and level of English proficiency. Older students with limited English proficiency may need only minimal instruction in the elements that are different from those in their home language. Younger students will need instruction similar to that which is provided to English monolingual children.

How Can I Teach Phonics and Word Study?

By emphasizing all of the processes that contribute to growth in reading, teachers will have the best chance of making every child a reader. (NRP, 2000, p. 2-92)

In this section, we focus on the sequence of instruction and provide guidelines for integrating the four subprocesses essential in teaching phonics and word study to beginning readers: letter-sound knowledge or alphabetic understanding; regular word reading; irregular word reading; and reading in decodable text.

Instructional Factors

Letter-sound knowledge helps English language learners understand that individual letters or clusters of letters that make up words represent the separate sounds of spoken language. Students who have alphabetic understanding know that to read a word they must first identify the most common sound of each letter and then blend the sounds together to form the word. Figure 3.3 provides the most frequent spellings of the 44 sounds of English and a key word to guide pronunciation. Remember, teach the most common sound for each letter first, and highlight to the extent possible the similarities or differences between students' home language and English when appropriate.

Figure 3.3. Guide to Pronunciation of English Sounds

In introducing letters, a combination of a vowel and a few consonants allows ELLs to form a number of words. These combinations might include /m/, /s/, /a/, and /t/, so students can form words even if they only know a few letter-sound correspondences. In addition, teach new learners sounds that are easier to articulate first. Continuous sounds such as /m/ and /s/ are easy to articulate and hear because the sound can be held without distortion. Stop sounds such as /p/ and /b/ are easily distorted when the sound is held. Use your judgment and knowledge of students' ability. If a student is experiencing great difficulty remembering the letter-sound associations, limit the number of lettersound relationships taught and focus on correspondences that are easier to pronounce. However, if the difficulty is in pronunciation, give the student more explicit instruction on how to pronounce the word, focusing on how to form the sound, but keep the instruction moving.

In addition, separate confusing letter-sound associations during initial instruction and be sure your students are comfortable with the first one before teaching the second. Characteristics that might cause confusion are visual similarity and auditory similarity. Visually similar letters can differ in the vertical direction of their extension ( b/p, d/q), their left-right orientation ( b/d, p/q), or their top-bottom orientation ( w/m, u/n) (Blevins, 1998). Auditorily similar sounds can also cause some student difficulty. For example, some students may have difficulty hearing the differences among /b/, /p/, and /d/. In addition, students may confuse the sound of letters if the sound of a letter in English is similar to the sound of a different letter in another language. For example, the /long e/ sound in English is the same as the sound for i in Spanish. While it would be difficult to know all the letter-sound correspondences for all the language groups represented in your class, if you notice that students from the same language group are having similar problems with particular letter-sound correspondences, it would be worth investigating the source of confusion by asking an adult speaker of the language.

A basic lesson to introduce letter-sound correspondences to ELLs once they are familiar with the names and forms follows:

1. Present the letter and tell students the sound. Hold up a letter card. Say, "This letter is m. The sound for m is /mmm/."

2. Ask students to tell you the name and then the sound. Be sure they know the difference between the name and the sound.

3. Ask students to write the letter as they say the sound.

If students at the beginning of 1st grade still do not know any letter names or only know a few, or if you are teaching older students who are new to English, teach letter names and letter sounds simultaneously. In particular, with older ELLs, move the introduction of letter-sound correspondences at a quicker pace so students can apply them to the texts they are reading.

Once children know three or four lettersound associations, begin regular word-reading and word-building activities. For example, if students have learned the letter-sound correspondences for i, t, p, n, and s, they can begin to apply this knowledge to read words such as it, in, pit, pin, sit, sip, and tip. Teaching them the short sound for a can more than double the number of words they can read and write. Older students who know how to read in their home language may not need explicit instruction in word reading. It is more likely that they will need opportunities to apply the lettersound correspondences they are learning in context.

After students have learned enough lettersound correspondences to form words, integrate regular word reading into the lesson. A basic regular word-reading lesson to teach students to blend the sounds follows:

1. Sound out words without stopping between sounds. If you use words with letters that have continuous sounds at the beginning of the word, like sit, this step will be easier.

2. After students have sounded out the word, ask them to read it quickly. For example, present the word sit. Students say each sound without stopping, ssssiiit, then say the whole word quickly: sit.

3. Transition students from sounding out words aloud to sounding out words silently before saying them quickly.

General guidelines for planning and teaching regular word reading follow:

During initial instruction, first choose words that are short vowel-consonant words and consonant-short vowel-consonant words: it to sit and pit; in to pin and tin; at to sat andpat. Then go on to patterns that include blends and digraphs: CCVC (stop), CVCC (mast), CVC silent e (bike), CCVCC (truck).

Progress from simple to more complex sound spellings.

Teach consonant sounds (/b/, /m/, /s/) before blends (br, cl, sn) or digraphs (sh, ch).

Teach short vowel sounds, then long vowel sounds followed by variant vowels (ea, oa) and diphthongs (oi, oy).

Select words that have stop sounds at the end of the word.

Select words that represent vocabulary familiar to the children and that they are likely to encounter in their reading (Blevins, 1998; Chard & Osborn, 1999).

Clarify or review the meanings of all words used in the lesson.

Students who are taught to apply their letter-sound knowledge and are given opportunities to practice using them will be able to read and write sentences even before they learn all the letter-sound correspondences. This procedure not only allows ELLs to practice the skills they are learning in isolation and in context, but it also introduces the elements of English gradually and systematically so they can internalize the structure of English.

As not all words can be completely sounded out, include instruction in irregular word reading, because about a fourth of the most frequently used words in children's writing and texts are irregular (Moats, 2000). The list includes words such as the, to, was, do, they, you, and is. Since students cannot apply their knowledge of letter-sound relationships to these words, they will have to learn them as whole words. Guidelines for selecting and teaching irregular words follow:

Select and teach words that appear frequently in stories and informational texts.

Teach students the meanings of the words, as they are not likely to encounter them in either their receptive or expressive vocabularies.

Determine the number of words taught in each lesson based on the abilities of the student.

Teach new irregular words before they appear in a story. Discuss the word and any special features and point out parts of the word that are regular.

Review previously taught words on a daily basis.

Provide students with opportunities to use these words in their reading and writing activities (Blevins, 1998; Chard & Osborn, 1999).

Learning letter-sound relationships in isolation is necessary but not enough for English language learners. They also need to apply their knowledge to reading text. Provide students with opportunities to practice reading connected text. Begin with decodable text and gradually move to less-controlled text as students' ability and confidence grow. Because most decodable texts contain irregular words, be sure to teach those in advance if students do not know them. After reading as a group, give students opportunities to reread the text.

Several activities to teach these elements are provided in the instructional activities section of this chapter.

Progress Monitoring

Monitoring student progress will help you plan instruction and alert you if a student is falling behind. You can then use the information to group students for instruction and to modify the pace of instruction based on the level of students in each group. You can monitor student progress in each area informally. To assess the acquisition of letter-sound relationships, you can maintain a list of letter-sound associations that have been taught and mastered. About every two weeks, ask your ELLs to identify the sounds of letters or to give the letter name of the sound provided. You can also give students a letter dictation. You provide a letter name or sound, and they write the corresponding letter.

Monitor regular and irregular words separately, but use the same process for each type of word. Monitor word reading in isolation by asking students to read a set of words that have been taught. The goal is for students to read the words automatically. In most instances, that will be within three seconds. You can also keep a record of the words students miss repeatedly while reading connected text. Progress monitoring will also help you get a sense of how students are doing in terms of learning and applying the structure of English orthography in their reading and writing. Research with English language learners representing various language groups demonstrates that progress-monitoring measures in basic phonics skills such as letter naming and regular and irregular word reading are valid predictors of later reading ability. These measures let you know what students know and do not know but do not necessarily indicate that the student will have trouble learning. How they respond to well-thought-out instruction will be a better indicator of how well they are able to learn.

What Are Some Useful Phonics and Word Study Activities?

Basic Lesson in Letter-Sound Knowledge: Fish for Letters

Objective. Given a letter, students will identify the letter name and sound.

Materials. Multiple copies of letters students have learned on cards, fishbowl

Sequence. Introduce one vowel and three to four consonants initially. As students master letters, add new letters.

1. After reviewing letters learned, tell students that they will pick a card from the fish bowl and say the name and sound.

2. Model for the students. Pick a card, show it to the students, and say the letter name and then the sound.

3. Ask students to take a turn.

4. If students give the incorrect name or sound, provide it. Ask all students to repeat and have student return card to the bowl.

5. If the student gives the correct name and sound, he or she keeps the card.

6. Continue until all cards are gone.

Scaffold. Give only letter names or sounds.

Regular Word Reading: Read the Word (Phoneme Level)

Objective. Given a regular word, students will read the word.

Materials. Word cards
Sequence.

VC: in, at, am, it, up, ox

CVC: mat, hop, cut, sit, pin, can, ten, get, not, cup, cut, tap, red, him, cob, run, gum, ham, mad, hid, dip, box, bug, big

CCVC: stop, flap, snap, trip

CVCC: mast, jump, bunk, fall, hand, will, bend, rock, told, dash, back, duck

CVC silent e: bike, take, joke, made, time, more, cape, kite, five, name

CCVCC: truck, sport, blast, small

1. Tell students they will be reading new words.

2. Tell students that when shown a word card, they will first sound out each lettersound correspondence and then read the word quickly.

3. Show students a word card. Model saying each sound continuously as you point to each letter, for example, iiiinnnn.

4. After sounding out the word, read the word fast: in.

5. Show a word and ask the students to say each sound. Make sure each sound is correct. If a student makes an error, review the correct letter-sound correspondence and repeat.

6. After students have sounded out the word, ask them to read the word fast. If a student reads the word incorrectly, ask him or her to sound it out and then read the word fast.

7. Review the meaning of the word. Ask if anyone knows what the word means. If no one gives a definition, give a quick definition using a picture, gesture, synonym, or short description.

8. Continue with the remaining word cards.

Scaffolds. (1) Review the individual lettersound correspondences for the letters used to form the words. (2) Students point to each sound as it is pronounced and sweep their fingers under the word when they read it fast. (3) Students use letter tiles and pull down each letter tile as they say the sound and then sweep their finger under the tiles when they say the word fast.

Regular Word Reading: Read the Word (Onset-Rime Level)

Objective. The student will identify a particular word pattern given a group of words (see Figure 3.4).

Figure 3.4. Most Common Rimes

Materials. Blank index cards, marker
Sequence.

VC: in, at, am, it, up, ox

CVC: mat, hop, cut, sit, pin, can, ten, get, not, cup, cut, tap, red, him, cob, run, gum, ham, mad, hid, dip, box, bug, big

CCVC: stop, flap, snap, trip

CVCC: mast, jump, bunk, fall, hand, will, bend, rock, told, dash, back, duck

CVC silent e: bike, take, joke, made, time, more, cape, kite, five, name

CCVCC: truck, sport, blast, small

1. Tell students that many English words contain a group of letters that look and sound the same. Explain that learning to read this group of letters or the pattern of the word will help them read other words.

2. Introduce the pattern for the lesson. "Today we will learn the ending pattern -ap. The sounds are /a/ /p/. When you blend them together, they say /ap/."

3. Ask students to tell you other words with the ending pattern /ap/.

4. Write student contributions on the index cards, one word per card.

5. If students give a nonsense word, acknowledge that the pattern is correct but that it is not a real word in English. Write the word.

6. When students cannot provide any more words, ask students to read the word cards. Have them segment the word at the onset-rime level. Then blend them together to read the word.

7. Review all the cards again; this time ask student to read the entire word when it is shown.

8. Review the meaning of all the words.

Source. Adapted from Essential Reading Strategies for the Struggling Reader: Activities for an Accelerated Reading Program-Expanded Edition, by University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts, 2001, Austin, TX: Author.

Regular Word Reading: Building Words

Objective. Students will practice reading words containing rime patterns.

Materials. A set of cards of previously studied onsets and a set of cards with previously studied rime patterns

Sequence. Onsets: single letter, blends ( bl, fl, sn, st), digraphs ( gr, br)

Rimes:

VC: -an, -ap, -at, -aw, -in, -ip, -ir, -op, -or, -ug, -it, -et, -ot, -up, -ut

VCV: -ake, -ale, -ame, -ate, -ice, -ide, -ine, -ore, -oke, -ade, -ike, -ime

VVC: -ail, -ain, -eat, -eek, -een, -oot, -eed, -eep, -ait, -eet, -eem, -oop

VCC: -ack, -ank, -ash, -ell, -est, -ick, -ill, -ing, -ink, -ock, -unk, -ump, -uck

1. Review the onset and rime cards.

2. Place the two sets of cards face down in the middle of the table.

3. Explain to the students that they will pick the top card from each pile, put them together, and read the word.

4. Model the activity.

5. Ask each student to take a turn. If all students can do the activity, have students take turns picking cards and reading the words. After the word is read, the student identifies it as a real or made-up word.

Scaffolds. (1) Limit the number of rimes used-either rimes with the same vowels or the set of rimes. (2) Limit the number of onsets used. (3) Ask all students to read each word formed.

Regular Word Reading: Changing Word

Objective. Students will practice reading previously taught regular words.

Materials. Chart paper or chalkboard with a ladder drawn on it, marker or chalk

Sequence. Change only the onset, change only letters in the rime, change letters in both the onset and rime

1. Tell students they will be making new words by changing one letter at a time.

2. On the bottom rung, write a word with a pattern they have learned.

3. Model how you will change one letter to form a new word. Ask students to read the word.

4. Ask a student to change one letter to make a new word. Move up the ladder.

5. Students will continue providing new words until they reach the top rung.

6. Ask students to review the meanings of the words on their board.

Variation. Accept both real and nonsense words.

Challenge. Impose a time limit to read the word.

Irregular Word Reading: What's the Word?

Objective. Students will learn irregular words

Materials. Word cards (three to five per lesson), pocket chart, notebook with each page marked with one letter of the alphabet, pencils

Sequence. Begin with most common irregular words

1. Tell students they will be learning some words that do not follow the letter-sound correspondences they have been learning, so they have to learn these words as a whole.

2. Show students the first word card and read the word. Ask students to repeat the word in unison.

3. Spell the word as you point to each letter and then ask the students to spell the word in unison.

4. Ask the students to read the word again. Then students write it in their notebooks on the appropriate page. Monitor to make sure they spell the words correctly.

5. Ask students if anyone knows the meaning of the word. If no one knows the meaning of the word, provide a quick definition.

6. Ask students to make a quick note in their notebooks to help them remember the meaning. Students may want to write the meaning in their home language.

7. Place the word card in the pocket chart.

8. Follow steps 2-7 with the other words.

9. Review the words taught. Point to each word in the pocket chart and ask the students to read it in unison. Then ask individual students to read the word and provide the meaning.

Variation. Use words that will appear in text that students will be reading.

Analogy-Based Phonics: What Do I Already Know?

Objective. Students will use analogy to sound out unknown words.

Materials. Words with patterns students know written on cards (three to four per student)

Sequence. CVC words with rime patterns that are decodable ( bat), CCVC words with rime patterns that are decodable ( stop), CVCC words with rime patterns that are decodable ( bump), words with irregular rimes ( night)

1. Tell students they will be reading new words using what they know about spelling patterns to help them sound out the words.

2. Review the clue word (night) by showing the students the word card and asking, "What is our clue word?"

3. After students respond, ask, "What are the letters in night?"

4. After students respond, underline the -ight and tell students that the new words they will be reading also end in -ight.

5. Ask students to repeat the ending.

6. Ask students to read the words as you present them one at a time. Remind them to sound out the initial sound or sounds and then use what they know about the ending to read the word.

7. Ask students to tell you the strategy they used to read the new words.

8. Review the meanings of the new words in the lesson.

Scaffolds. (1) Begin with simple rimes and syllable patterns such as -VC and new words that have a one-letter onset. (2) Use new words with onsets that are blends or digraphs. (3) Use rimes and word-spelling patterns that are irregular.

Analogy-Based Phonics: Strategy Use in Context

Objective. Students will use analogy to sound out unknown words they encounter in texts.

Materials. Texts that have several words with a rime or spelling pattern students know

Sequence. Texts that have only one or two patterns; texts with more patterns for which students will have to use their knowledge of various rimes and patterns

1. Tell students they will be reading a book that has words they have not read before.

2. Remind them to look for the part of the word they can already read.

3. Tell students to sound out the first part of the word and add the part they know to read the word.

4. Remind them that you will review the meaning of the words after you read the story.

Irregular Word Reading: Irregular Word Road Race

Objective. Students will practice reading irregular words that have been previously taught.

Materials. For each student: a game board, word cards matched to game board, a chip or game piece (see Figure 3.5)

1. Explain the game to students. Tell them: "You will place a chip in the start box, read the word in the first box, then read each word card aloud until you find the card with the word that matches the word in the first box. Now, you move the chip into the box containing the first word." Explain that they then go on to read the word in the second box, and read the word cards again until they find its matching word card. Continue to the end of the game board. Note that cards are not discarded but are placed in the back of the pile.

2. Model the procedures in step 1 for students.

3. Review the meanings of the words.

4. Give each student a game board, a set of cards, and a chip. Remind students to read each card in the set aloud.

5. Monitor students.

Figure 3.5. Road Race Game Board

Source: Essential Reading Strategies for the Struggling Reader: Activities for an Accelerated Reading Program-Expanded Edition

Variations. Fill the squares with regular words or specific onset-rime patterns; for kindergarten students and struggling 1st graders, fill each square with a letter (students provide either the name or sound as directed).

Scaffolds. (1) Pair a more able reader with a struggling reader. Students take turns so the more able student reads the word cards until finding the first word. Then the second student reads the word cards for the second word. (2) Limit the number of words.

Challenge. Impose a time limit to read the word.

Lesson for Learning the Doubling Rule (-ing and -ed)

Objective. Students will learn the doubling rule for adding -ing or -ed to CVC verbs and will practice writing CVC + -ing or -ed words independently.

Materials. Flip chart, blackboard, or dry-erase board; writing notebooks and pencils; marker

1. Tell students they will learn the doubling rule for adding endings to CVC words. Explain that in English, when we add -ing or -ed to a CVC word, we double the last consonant then add the ending. Model the process using only one of the endings and a pattern that students know well.

2. Give students a word. Ask them to write the word in their notebooks. Then ask them to add the ending.

3. Ask a student to write the word on the chart.

4. Ask students to check their work.

5. Give students several more words.

6. Review the meanings of all the words.

Review Lesson for the Doubling Rule

Objective. Review the doubling rule for adding -ing or -ed to a CVC verb.

Materials. Flip chart, blackboard, or dry-erase board; writing notebooks and pencils; marker

Sequence. Complete the activity as a group, complete activity in pairs, add CVCC words

1. Review the doubling rule with students. Remind them that in English when they add an ending to a CVC word they must double the last letter.

2. Write a CVC verb on board. Ask students what they must do to add an ending. Rewrite the word with the ending.

3. Tell students that they will have a tick-tack-toe tournament.

4. Draw a tick-tack-toe board, and write a CVC verb in each square.

5. Tell students that to gain a square, they have to change the verb by adding either -ing or -ed correctly. If the new word is written correctly, the student may draw an X or O. If the student does not add the ending correctly, the square remains open. In the first round, students play against the teacher.

6. Have students determine whether an answer is correct or not by showing thumbs up or thumbs down. Continue until someone wins the game by getting three in a row.

Variation. Students play in pairs.

Scaffold. Use only one type of ending.

Structural Analysis: Let's Add Word Parts

Objective. Students learn that affixes (prefixes and suffixes) change the word meaning.

Materials. Chart paper, marker, a list of root words students can read and give the meaning for each

Sequence. Most-common prefixes, most-common suffixes, less-common prefixes, less-common suffixes

1. Tell students that adding word parts to a word will change the meaning of the word. Tell students that prefixes appear at the beginning of the word and that they will learn the meaning of the prefix and then add it to root words.

2. Write a prefix on the chart paper. Read the prefix and tell students its meaning.

3. Ask students to read the prefix and tell its meaning.

4. Write a root word on the chart paper. Ask students to read the word and give its meaning. If students do not know the meaning, provide it.

5. Write the root word with the prefix. Ask students to read the word.

6. Model how to determine the meaning of the new word. For example, un- means "not"; happy means "with joy"; so unhappy means "not happy" or "without joy."

7. Provide additional root words and ask students to read and define the prefix, read the root word, read the word with prefix added, and define the new word.

8. Repeat steps 2-7 with the second prefix.

Variation. Use suffixes.

Scaffold. Limit the number of prefixes introduced.

Advanced Word Analysis: Make a New Word

Objective. Students will add previously taught prefixes or suffixes to a root word and will give the meaning of the new word.

Materials. Root words written on cards (three to four per student), small sticky notes with a prefix or suffix written on them

Sequence. Most-common prefixes, most-common suffixes, less-common prefixes, less-common suffixes

1. Tell students they will be reviewing the meaning of prefixes and suffixes they have learned and will practice reading words with prefixes and suffixes.

2. Review the prefixes and suffixes written on the sticky notes. Ask students to read them in unison and provide the meaning.

3. Ask students to read the root words in unison. Then give each student three to four root word cards.

4. Tell students you will pick an affix from the pile; each one in turn will add it to one of his or her root word cards, read the new word, and say its meaning.

5. If a student has difficulty providing the meaning, ask the student the meaning of the affix, then the meaning of the root word. If the student still cannot provide the meaning, model the process. For example, un- means "not" and happy means "with joy"; unhappy means "not happy" or "without joy."

6. Continue with the other affixes.

Scaffolds. (1) Limit the number of affixes used. (2) Use only prefixes or suffixes.

Advanced Word Analysis: Word Part Jeopardy!

Objective. Students will identify prefixes, suffixes, and roots in words and their meanings.

Materials. Category cards for each of the three categories: prefixes, suffixes, and root words; answer cards for each category; dollar amount cards (for sample Q&A see Figure 3.6)

1. Place game pieces on the board as you explain the game.

2. Tell students they will be playing Jeopardy! to test their knowledge of word parts and their meanings.

3. Divide students into teams.

4. Tell them that under each dollar amount there is an answer to a question related to its subject category card.

5. They will pick a category and dollar amount, expose and read the answer, then give the question to the answer.

6. If they get the answer correct, they get the dollar card. If they answer incorrectly, another team gets a chance to answer.

7. Game continues until all the cards are exposed.

Advanced Word Analysis: Is It Real?

Objective. Students will use the prefixes they have been studying to make words.

Materials. Word cards using prefixes from previous lessons; game board with words that combine with prefix cards to make real words, and some that combine to make nonsense words; dice or spinner; game pieces

1. Review what a prefix is. Review the prefixes from the previous lessons. Make sure that students can read, spell, and define each prefix.

2. Ask students to read the word cards in unison. Periodically ask a student to define the word or to use it in a sentence.

3. Introduce the game and explain the rules.

4. Distribute a prefix card to each student or pair of students. Tell students they will take turns rolling the dice or spinning and then moving their game piece the appropriate number of spaces. Then they combine the prefix on their card with the word on the space and read the new word. The students must decide if it is a real word or a nonsense word. If it is a real word, they must define it and use it in a sentence. If unable to complete all steps correctly, they can ask a peer for help. If it is not a real word, the student tells what it would mean if the prefix were used correctly.

5. Continue until one of the students reaches the end.

Scaffold. Pair students of high and low levels of English proficiency.

Bear, D. R., Templeton, S., Ivernizzi, M., & Johnston, F. (2008). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
This book gives information on how to provide word study instruction to students based on their spelling developmental stages. The text provides a description of the basis for this approach to instruction, instructions for assessing students prior to beginning instruction, and activities for students in each of the stages of development.

Blevins, W. (1998). Phonics from A to Z: A practical guide. New York: Scholastic Professional Books.
This guide provides a wealth of information for teachers in an easy-to-read and easy-to-use format. The book begins with a brief description of phonics and then provides activities, lists, and teaching guidelines for alphabet recognition, phonemic awareness, letter-sound correspondences, and regular and irregular word reading.

Cunningham, P. M. (2004). Phonics they use: Words for reading and writing (4th ed). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
This research integrates the strategic approaches needed to help students develop reading and spelling skills using a coherent collection of practical, hands-on activities that provide a framework for teaching phonics. It emphasizes the importance of students using phonics for decoding, reading, and spelling a new word, and for writing. Rather than subscribe to a single theory, the book stresses a balanced reading program-incorporating a variety of strategic approaches-tied to the individual needs of children.

Diaz-Rico, L. T. (2004). Teaching English learners: Methods and strategies, my lab school edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Chapter 8 provides activities for teaching grammar through integrated language skills and gives a history of English to help explain the peculiarities of the language.

Donat, D. J. (2003). Reading their way: A balance of phonics and whole language. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
This book fulfills the goal of increasing reading achievement with a balanced literacy program for kindergarten and beyond, using the best of phonics and whole-language approaches. Donat presents reading-instruction strategies, scheduling and grouping options, assessments, evaluations, and sound and spelling patterns for each grade level. Teachers will find an abundance of ideas for immediate implementation in their classrooms, and school administrators will appreciate the guidance in developing quality literacy programs. Supplemented by an appendix of suggested resources and a reference section.

Henry, M. K. (2003). Unlocking literacy: Effective decoding and spelling instruction. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
Designed for general and special educators of students from prekindergarten to middle school, this book offers a range of creative strategies for helping students learn and a refresher course on language skills. The text is filled with classroom activities; lesson plans incorporating multisensory, language-based instruction; samples of student work; explanations of current research; and extensive word lists.

Kress, J. (1993). The ESL book of lists. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
This book provides useful lists for teachers on a number of topics, including the identification of difficult English sounds for specific language groups and word lists for a variety of objectives.

McCormick, C. E., Throneburg, R., & Smitley, J. (2002). A sound start: Phonemic awareness lessons for reading success. New York: Guilford Press.
One volume provides three separate sets of phonemic awareness lessons, complete with scripted directions and reproducible learning materials and assessment tools. Incorporating a variety of activities, each set is field-tested and research based and the lessons may be used independently or in conjunction with one another.

Moats, L. C. (2000). Speech to print: Language essentials for teachers. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing Co.
This comprehensive book on the English language will help you understand the organization of written and spoken language, make the connection between language structure and how children learn to read, and provide sample lesson plans and adaptations. This information is essential for teachers of English language learners.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
by Sylvia Linan-Thompson and Sharon Vaughn In a recent conversation, teachers of English language learners (ELLS) voiced concerns about the teaching of phonics to students in their classes who have several levels of English proficiency. "English is so irregular, it doesn't make sense to teach students all the rules because there are so many exceptions."

# data[].attributes.headline
English Language Learners and the Five Essential Components of Reading Instruction

# data[].attributes.subject
English Language Learners and the Five Essential Components of Reading Instruction

# data[].attributes.body
See Section 2 for Phonics Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
English Language Learners and the Five Essential Components of Reading Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find out how teachers can play to the strengths and shore up the weaknesses of English Language Learners in each of the Reading First content areas.

# data[].attributes.headline
Reading 101 for English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.subject
Reading 101 for English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Learning to read is a complicated process. If you teach English language learners (ELLs), however, there are a number of ways you can support their literacy and language development through targeted instruction.

This article highlights ELL instructional strategies based on the five components of reading as outlined in Teaching Children to Read by the National Reading Panel (2000). This report is a study of research-based best practices in reading instruction and it focuses on the following five instructional areas: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, Comprehension. In addition, the article includes information related to two additional important areas of instruction for ELLs, oral language and the role of the home language.

Each of these topics is explored below, and each section includes:

a definition

an explanation of why the component is important when learning to read

challenges that ELLs may face

strategies for ELL instruction

You will find references to more in-depth information about ELLs and effective reading instruction from recommended resources below.

Note: Since this article includes in-depth information on a number of topics, we encourage you to use it in professional learning communities, jigsaw activities, and other collaborative settings!

What does the research say?

Before jumping in, it's important to note that, in general, what we know about effective literacy instruction for English speakers holds true for ELLs, but modifications and adjustments may be needed (Goldenberg, 2008). Since the original National Reading Panel did not include ELLs' literacy development as part of its research review, a subsequent panel reviewed the research related to language learners and released a report authored by principal investigator Dr. Diane August and panel chair Dr. Timothy Shanahan titled Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth.

Within the executive summary of that report, the authors note that, "Instruction that provides substantial coverage in the key components of reading - identified by the National Reading Panel (NICHD, 2000) as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension - has clear benefits for language-minority students." They continue, "However, while approaches that are similar to those used with native-language populations are effective, the research suggests that adjustments to these approaches are needed to have maximum benefit with language-minority students." (p. 3)

For example, many practices may need modifications or scaffolds which may not be reflected in different reading programs or materials (August, 2018; Goldenberg, 2008), and in some cases, certain strategies may not be appropriate even with adjustments. In addition, the authors note the important role of two areas that were not addressed in the original National Reading Panel: students' home language and oral language.

Many examples of specific modifications are outlined in the strategies below, along with discussion of home language and oral language. You can find additional research resources at the end of the article, including a recent working paper published by Pivot Learning, Narrowing Down to Find Common Ground: Shared Agreements for Effective Literacy Instruction in California.

An in-depth video book study highlighting Literacy Foundations for English Learners by Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan is also publicly available on YouTube.

When working with ELLs, students' home languages are a powerful tool that educators can use - even if they don't speak those languages or are working in a classroom with students who speak many languages. Drs. August and Shanahan write, "Oral proficiency and literacy in the first language can be used to facilitate literacy development in English" (2006, p. 5). And in hisColorín Colorado article about the value of students' home language, Dr. Fred Genesee writes:

Extensive research, again from around the world, has found that children who are learning to read in a second language are able to transfer many skills and knowledge from their first language to facilitate their acquisition of reading skills in the second language. The best evidence of this comes from studies showing that students with strong reading skills in the home language also have strong reading skills in their second language. Much of this work has been done on ELLs in the U.S. (August & Shanahan, 2006; Riches & Genesee, 2006).

Tapping into students' home languages (also referred to as a first or native language) as a resource can take different forms:

Helping students make connections between their language and English in order to identify similarities and differences, such as English/Spanish cognates

Providing opportunities to use the home language in the classroom for reading, writing, and discussion

Encouraging students to draw on all of their language skills across languages, which is called translanguaging

Promoting biliteracy through bilingual or dual-language instruction, which can support students' future opportunities and family ties (not to mention brain health!), with initiatives such as the Seal of Biliteracy, which has been adopted in many states

It is important to keep in mind that the extent to which a student's literacy skills from their first language transfer depends on many factors, such as how similar the alphabetic systems between the two languages are and whether they share any connection in their origins, such as two languages that both derive from Latin (Nieser & Cárdenas-Hagan, 2020, p. 65). The students' levels of literacy in their home language will also have an impact on their literacy development in their new language. Learning more about the languages students speak can help educators target instruction, notice patterns among speakers of the same language, and help students understand the relationship between their language and English

You can also provide students and families with access to bilingual books and texts and encourage families to continue using and developing the home language through activities such as rhymes, storytelling, and conversation at home. You will also find specific strategies related to home language throughout the key components below.

Recommended resources

In addition, as you will see below, oral language has a role to play across all reading skills, yet it often does not receive much attention as a critical part of ELLs' language and literacy development. Drs. August and Shanahan write, "Instruction in the key components of reading is necessary - but not sufficient - for teaching language-minority students to read and write proficiently in English. Oral proficiency in English is critical as well - but student performance suggests that it is often overlooked in instruction." (2006, p. 5)

Oral language supports students' literacy skills in different ways. For example, students need to be familiar not only with the sounds and letters they are learning but also the words in which they appear in order to support their word recognition and comprehension. Other more global oral language skills, such as facility with English syntax and grammar, and the ability to navigate specific language functions like describing, predicting, and comparing, also contribute to both reading and writing development for ELLs.

In addition, strengthening oral language supports students' ability to participate in peer groups and their proficiency in speaking and writing using academic language. Students need opportunities to practice applying their emerging oral language skills through partner talk and peer work (scaffolded with supports such as sentence frames), activities such as partner reading, and responding to comprehension questions using academic language.

Dr. Carrie Simkin, the director of our sister site AdLit.org, offers the following suggestions related to oral language:

Make it a learning target for lesson planning (e.g. be intentional about planning for it).

Consider how much of the learning time in your classroom is text based vs. discussion. Do students have opportunities to discuss ideas or do they mostly respond in written formats? We want to engage students in lively discussions!

Consider if students have opportunities to work in pairs as well as small groups and not just respond to teacher-generated questions.

Have you modeled how to orally respond to questions using the question as a sentence starter? Do you have sentence starters visible for share-outs?

Our strategies related to oral language are also woven throughout the components below.

Recommended resources

Note: You can read more about the role of oral language in the foreword of Comprehension and English Language Learners.

Phonemic Awareness and ELLs

Keeping the areas of home language and oral language in mind, let's dive into the five key skill areas, starting with phonemic awareness.

Phonemic awareness is an important indicator of how well children will learn to read. Sometimes it is difficult, however, for speakers of a second language to "hear" and say sounds in the language they are learning. If you have had a student who could not master a particular sound in English, the sound may not have been a part of the student's native language.

In her chapter of Literacy Foundations for English Learners, Dr. Virginia Lovelace-Gonzalez notes that, "Phonological awareness skills can transfer across languages when students have opportunities to build these skills in their native language and English" (2020, p. 53).

For example, there are multiple sounds in English and Spanish that will directly transfer between languages, even if the sounds are associated with different letters (p. 50). Dr. Lovelace-Gonzalez writes, "For ELs, phonemic activities in English can be complicated by having to recognize sounds in English that do not exist in their native language...Instructionally, it is important for teachers to determine some of the similarities and differences between English and the student's native language to ensure the opportunity to learn" (p. 53).

Phonemic Awareness: Considerations and Strategies

What: The ability to hear and manipulate the different sounds in our language.

Why it matters: Phonemic awareness is the foundation for spelling and word recognition skills.

Considerations for ELLs

Learn more about the students' home languages.

Start by visiting a resource such as MyLanguages.org or Omniglot.com, which shares an overview of many different global languages.

Ask bilingual colleagues about how their languages are similar or different from English and common areas that need attention when learning English. For example, a group of Ukrainian teachers shared some of the questions that Ukrainian speakers have when learning English in this Colorín Colorado article.

Identify whether there are any sounds that your students' languages share with English. Use these as a starting point in your instruction. In addition, find out which sounds might be new to your students and be sure to include explicit practice of those sounds.

Help students think about the connection between their language and English.

Ask students how their language is the same or different than English in terms of how the language is written, the sounds that letters or symbols make, and words that might be related.

Help students become familiar with sounds, letters, and symbols that are shared between languages, as well as those that are not shared between the languages. (Some examples across different languages are included in Literacy Foundations for English Learners.)

Ask students if they have words that begin with a particular sound, or if there are any words related to a particular word in English. This can work with students who have limited literacy skills in their first language too.

Help beginning readers learn to identify sounds in short words.

Have students practice identifying the sounds in the beginning, middle, and end of these words. You may wish to use words that begin with a consonant, have a short vowel, and end in a consonant (CVC words) such as mat, top, and bus.

One very effective method is having students match pictures of words that have the same beginning, middle, or ending sound.

Use words that students already know in English.

Videos

Learn how to pronounce the 44 phonemes in English.

Phonics and ELLs

Phonics instruction aims to help new readers understand that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. Students benefit from learning and practicing sounds and symbols, including blended combinations. ELLs often show many strengths in mastering early phonics skills but it's important to remember that decoding while reading and correctly spelling words does not ensure good comprehension.

That's why it's important to ensure that ELLs are familiar with the words they are learning to decode in order to support their comprehension. The authors of Words Their Way with English Learners write, "English learners need structured opportunities to learn many new words to add to their repertoires so that these words can become the material of their literacy learning" (2011, p. 79).

Phonics: Considerations and Strategies

Considerations for ELLs

Use a word study approach.

Word study is a powerful approach that connects letters, sound, meaning, word parts, and usage so that students are learning explicit foundational skills within a meaningful context. For example, ELLs need lots of opportunities to connect the sounds, letters, and words they are learning.

The authors of Words Their Way with English Learners write, "What is key to literacy development for English learners in the emergent stage is that they use language with teachers and peers and see oral language they understand captured in print" (Helman et al, 2011).

Look for opportunities to reinforce phonics in context.

Using literature and content material, you can introduce and reinforce:

letter recognition

beginning and ending sounds

blends

rhyming words

silent letters

homonyms

Vocabulary and ELLs

Vocabulary plays an important part in learning to read, as well as in understanding what is read.

As students learn to read more advanced texts, they must learn the meaning of new words that are not part of their oral vocabulary. For ELLs, vocabulary development is especially important as students' develop academic language - in all subjects and activities! There are numerous ways to support explicit vocabulary instruction, which is essential for developing students' vocabulary knowledge. Dr. Coleen D. Carlson writes,

For EL students, drawing attention to unknown words during the initial presentation of the text, providing appropriate levels of definitions (e.g., providing English labels for words for which concepts and labels in one's native language are understood, quick definitions or demonstrations for simple words) and tying to background knowledge is critical. No amount of simply reading and rereading words will produce knowledge of unknown vocabulary. (2020, p. 97)

Vocabulary: Considerations and Strategies

Considerations for ELLs

Draw upon students' home languages.

You can draw upon students' home languages to build vocabulary by:

It is important to give students as much exposure and experience with new vocabulary words as possible before asking students to use them in a lesson or activity.

Select words that will support the reader's understanding of the story or text, as well as for other phrases and connectors that affect comprehension (even though, except, etc.). You can pre-teach vocabulary by using English as a second language (ESL) methods such as:

Role playing or pantomiming

Using gestures

Showing real objects

Pointing to pictures

Doing quick drawings on the board

Using the equivalent in students' languages and then asking students to say the word in English

Providing a student-friendly definition

Using graphic organizers

Cognates are words in different languages that are derived from the same original word or root. About 40% of all English words have cognates in Spanish (such as the English/Spanish cognate "family/familia"). This is an obvious bridge to the English language for Spanish speakers if the student is made aware of how to use this resource.

Teach students to recognize and use cognates, or words that are related across languages, and encourage students to be on the lookout for cognates from other languages as well.

Give students an opportunity to practice using new words.

As the teacher, you can explicitly teach word meanings to improve comprehension. However, to know a word means knowing it in all of the following dimensions:

The ability to define a word

The ability to recognize when to use that word

Knowledge of its multiple meanings

The ability to decode and spell that word

The ability to use different definitions word accurately in different contexts

Ensure students understand a new word by asking them to produce it themselves either orally or in writing.

I taught a summer school unit on habitats and healthy environments, and every student had to learn the phrase, "Reduce, reuse, recycle." Over the course of four weeks I gave students many opportunities to use those words to describe what we were doing: "We are reusing the grocery bag," or "We reused the scratch paper."

Build students' academic vocabulary.

You can increase students' academic vocabulary by teaching common structures and terms used in a specific content area. For example, sentence frames are a great way to get students familiar with these structures and can be used in writing and speaking:

You can learn more strategies in this related article.

The _____ is ______ than the _____.

I can conclude ______ because _______.

Videos

ESOL Specialist Sheila Majdi: Using sentence frames with ELLs

ESOL specialist Sheila Majdi from Arlington, VA explains what a sentence frame is and how she might use this strategy with ELLs.

Interactive reading of a story

In this classroom clip, first-grade teacher Albuquerque teacher Ali Nava leads her students through an interactive reading of Burro's Tortillas, a Southwestern adaptation of "The Little Red Hen."

Focusing on language in literacy instruction

In this classroom clip, fifth-grade teacher Clara Gonzales-Espinoza helps her students expand their understanding of the way language is used in a picture book version of Cinderella.

Instruction of key academic vocabulary with high school ELLs

In this lesson, students read a letter that Captain John Smith of the English Army wrote to Queen Anne in 1616. You can see lesson materials and reflection interviews from ELL teacher Anne Formato in our related classroom module.

Fluency and ELLs

Fluency is a tricky area when it comes to ELL reading instruction. For native English speakers, fluency and reading comprehension often share a strong correlation because fluent readers recognize words and comprehend at the same time. This is not always the case for ELLs.

Many ELLs can be deceptively fast and accurate in their reading because they are good readers in their primary language and have strong decoding skills. Yet they may demonstrate little understanding of the text, and hearing the text out loud may not necessarily provide a step towards comprehension as it is likely to do for native speakers. One important factor in the connection between fluency and comprehension is ELLs' oral language skills, which Dr. Carlson describes as "an important foundation that supports the role of fluency as a bridge to comprehension" (p. 93).

Fluency: Considerations and Strategies

Inaccurate indicator of ELLs' comprehension

It is not unusual for an ELL student to read a passage beautifully and then not be able answer more than a couple of comprehension questions correctly. Decoding skills (sounding out words) and comprehending the text are two different skills.

Limited benefit from hearing texts read aloud

Native speakers who are not strong decoders can often comprehend text that is read to them better than text that they read themselves. That's because when someone else is doing the reading, they can focus on meaning without having to struggle to get the words off the page.

With ELLs, however, comprehension problems tend to be associated with limited vocabulary and limited background knowledge. Thus, listening to text read by someone else won't enhance comprehension.

Comprehension and ELLs

Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read. To be able to accurately understand written material, children need to be able to 1) decode what they read; 2) make connections between what they read and what they already know; and 3) think deeply about what they have read. Comprehension can be the most difficult skill to master, however, and can elude students who have mastered word-level skills. According to the executive summary of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth,

An important finding that emerges from the research is that word-level skills in literacy - such as decoding, word recognition and spelling - are often taught well enough to allow language-minority students to attain levels of performance equal to those of native English speakers. However, this is not the case for text-level skills - reading comprehension and writing. (p. 4)

ELLs at all levels of English proficiency, and literacy development, will benefit from explicit instruction in comprehension skills along with other skills because improved comprehension will not only help them in language arts and ESL classes - it will help them in content-area classes and in daily activities. It will also improve the chances of their interest in reading for pleasure.

Learn more from the following articles:

Comprehension: Considerations and Strategies

Considerations for ELLs

ELLs who struggle with comprehension may read more slowly, have a hard time following a text or story, have a hard time picking out important events, and feel frustrated. They may also have problems mastering new concepts in their content-area classes or completing assignments and assessments because they cannot comprehend the texts and tests for these subjects.

Check comprehension frequently.

As students read, ask them open-ended questions about what they are reading, and informally test students' ability to sequence material from sentences or a story by printing sentences from a section of the story on paper strips, mixing the strips or word order, and having students put them in order.

Use questions after reading.

After the ELLs and/or whole class have completed the reading, you can test their comprehension with carefully crafted questions, taking care to use simple sentences and key vocabulary from the text they just read.

These questions can be at the:

Videos

This video showcases a 5 th-grade team planning a science lesson about the difference between vascular and non-vascular plants. ESOL specialist Katy Padilla plays a key role in advocating for ELLs throughout the lesson planning process and sharing her strategies for engaging and supporting students.

Making Dual-Language Immersion Work

This video provides an introduction to Claremont Immersion School's dual language model and shows how teachers collaborating to develop a language arts language in English and Spanish.

Assessment for ELLs

Learn how third-grade teacher Samantha Kirch uses informal assessment in her classroom to better evaluate ELLs and their progress.

Story setup: Pre-reading strategies for comprehension

Learn about pre-reading strategies that will lay the groundwork before high school newcomer ELLs tackle a new text.

Teaching ELLs in upper elementary, middle school, and high school

Older ELLs bring a lot of valuable experience and interests to the classroom. At the same time, they face the double challenge of needing to learn content and a new language at the same time, which is further complicated if their literacy skills are limited. While they may still need foundational skills work, it can be hard to find materials that are age-appropriate. You can learn more about specific tips for supporting this diverse population from the following resources:

For great classroom videos at the secondary level, see our classroom video library!

Concluding Thoughts

This is a lot of information, but we hope that these resources and recommendations can inform your work with students as well as the conversations about literacy in your setting. The more familiar your team is with best practices for ELLs, the more effectively you can determine which practices and resources will best support your students in their ongoing literacy development - and future successes!

Recommend Resources

This new working paper released by Pivot Learning reflects collective consensus among literacy experts on key topics concerning (1) literacy and multilingual and English learner students; (2) early screening and assessment; and (3) foundational skills.

To learn more about the paper and how it was developed, see Can common ground be found on teaching reading in California? (EdSource)

Research articles and chapters

Books

Literacy Foundations for English Learners by Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan (You can see the related book study on YouTube.)

Words Their Way with English Learners: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling (2nd Ed.) by Dr. Lori Helman, Dr. Donald R. Bear, Dr. Shane Templeton, Dr. Marcia Invernizzi, and Dr. Francine Johnston

Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners by Dr. Nancy Cloud, Dr. Fred Genesee, and Dr. Else Hamayan

Dual Language Instruction from A to Z: Practical Guidance for Teachers and Administrators by Dr. Else Hamayan, Dr. Fred Genesee, and Dr. Nancy Cloud

Webcasts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Reading 101 for English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learning to read is a complicated process. If you teach English language learners (ELLs), however, there are a number of ways you can support their literacy and language development through targeted instruction. This article highlights ELL instructional strategies based on the five components of reading as outlined in Teaching Children to Read by the National Reading Panel (2000).

# data[].attributes.body
This activity can be used as students practice reading stories that focus on particular consonant digraphs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Phonics Phone: The Phonics Phone is a curved c-shaped tube that students place to their ear and mouth while they quietly read, or whisper read, a text out loud. As they read into the phone, their voice travels up the tube to to their ear and students experience the magnification of their voice as they read out loud.

# data[].attributes.body
Include consonant digraphs on the word wall.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Phonemic Word Wall: A Phonemic Word Wall is a bulletin board or chart displaying words that are categorized by phonemes (sounds) or vowel patterns. Phonemic Word Walls are used to support emerging readers in recognizing spelling patterns and building phonics skills (i.e., the connection between printed letters and sounds).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Decoding is the ability to apply your knowledge of letter-sound relationships, including knowledge of letter patterns, to correctly pronounce written words. Understanding these relationships gives children the ability to recognize familiar words quickly and to figure out words they haven't seen before.

# data[].attributes.body
See Phonics Section

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners?

By Suzanne Irujo, ELL Outlook™ Contributing Writer

As a classroom teacher, I was largely ignorant of, and definitely suspicious of, research. I believed that researchers could make their studies come out any way they wanted them to, and that a good teacher who reflected on her own teaching knew much more about how to be effective with her students than any researcher did. Later, as a university professor, I learned how important good research can be, and how difficult it is to do really good experimental research in a field such as education, where it is impossible to control all the variables.

For that reason, I was pleased in 1997 when Congress funded the National Reading Panel (NRP) to evaluate research about teaching children to read. The panel's charge was to review existing studies, choose those that were well designed and well implemented, and synthesize their findings. The results were published in 2000 (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000), and became the basis of the Reading First grant program included in the No Child Left Behind legislation of 2001. Although there was initially a good deal of controversy about the findings of the report, all U.S. elementary school teachers were soon very aware of the five "essential elements" of reading instruction (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension).

Teachers of English language learners (ELLs), however, were left to wonder if and how the findings of the NRP applied to their students. How do you teach phonemic awareness and phonics in English to students who can't yet hear and distinguish the sounds? How do you teach fluency to students whose control of the structures of the English language is still limited? How do you teach them grade-level vocabulary when their vocabulary knowledge starts so far behind that of their English-speaking peers? How do you teach reading comprehension in English when they don't yet comprehend the English language?

Now there appears to be help. In 2002, the U.S. Department of Education funded the National Literacy Panel on Language Minority and Youth to survey, select, and synthesize research on teaching language-minority students to read and write. Their report was published recently (August & Shanahan, 2006).

How much help will this report provide for teachers of ELLs? A preliminary review of the Executive Summary (August, 2006) and the section of the full report on "Educating Language Minority Students" reveals these four potentially important general recommendations:

1. Literacy in the native language is an advantage. We already knew this (see, for example, Collier & Thomas, 1997), and it doesn't help teachers working in situations where literacy instruction in the native language is not possible.

2. Substantial coverage of the five essential elements of reading instruction helps. However, this finding is based on only 14 studies that looked at instruction of the essential elements of reading with ELLs. Because of the small number of studies, this recommendation is based on the fact that there is nothing in these 14 studies that contradicts the findings of the numerous studies of native speakers that were reviewed by the National Reading Panel. Also because of the small number of studies, no specific practices could be advocated for teaching the essential elements of reading to ELLs.

3. Reading programs for ELLs should include intensive language development as well as instruction in literacy strategies and skills. This recommendation is not based specifically on the research, because there were no studies that addressed the inclusion of intensive language development in reading instruction for ELLs. It is instead a hypothesis drawn from several other findings: (1) native speakers benefit more from instruction in the essential elements than do ELLs; (2) ELLs with greater language proficiency benefit more from instruction in the essential elements than do those with less proficiency; and (3) instruction in the essential elements with ELLs has a greater effect on decoding and fluency than on comprehension.

4. Instruction needs to be adjusted to meet the needs of ELLs. The report, however, states that there is not enough research to be able to identify specifically how those adjustments should be made. I could find only seven specific suggestions that would be useful to teachers of reading classes that include ELLs:

Provide additional work on English phonemes that are not present in the students' native language.

If students are literate in their native language, focus on differences between that language and English, with less attention given to elements that will transfer.

Provide extra practice in reading words, sentences, and stories.

Use cognate words in the native language as synonyms when teaching vocabulary.

Identify and clarify difficult words and passages.

Consolidate knowledge of the text through the use of summaries.

Find appropriate ways to use the native language.

These seven findings do not constitute a reading program for ELLs. We obviously need much more research. However, given the fact that teachers cannot wait until research catches up with their needs in order to implement effective practices with their ELL students, I think it is important to look not only at the research that is available, but also at what experienced, reflective teachers of ELLs (and observers of those teachers) consider to be best practices. The rest of this article will discuss the implications of available research on instructional practices in the teaching of the five essential elements of reading to ELLs, based on the findings of the National Literacy Panel as much as possible, but also drawing on information from reliable sources such as The Knowledge Loom: Spotlight on Elementary Literacy (The Education Alliance at Brown University, n.d.), as well as my own experience.

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness is difficult for ELLs because they may not yet have enough experience with English to be able to distinguish sounds that differ from those of their native language. There are three aspects of phonological awareness when learning to read in a second language that are important for teachers of ELLs to remember and incorporate into their instruction:

ELLs cannot develop phonological awareness in English until they are familiar with the sounds of English. This means that before explicit instruction in phonological awareness begins, children should have extensive experiences with fun and appealing songs, poems, chants, and read-alouds that will allow them to hear and reproduce the sound patterns of English.

Once explicit instruction has begun, modifications must be made to allow for more practice with sounds that can potentially cause confusion. These are sounds that either don't exist in the native language (most of the short vowel sounds of English don't exist in Spanish, for example), or sounds that are perceived as different in English but the same in the native language (such as /r/ and /l/ for speakers of Japanese, or /b/ and /v/ for speakers of Spanish). Because these differences vary from one language to another, teachers will have to become familiar with which sounds of English will need extra practice, depending on the language backgrounds of their students.

Once phonological awareness has developed in any language, it transfers to other languages that are learned. Therefore, students who are literate in their native language will not need to develop this skill again in English; they will only need to become familiar with the sounds of English and to learn to discriminate sounds that are different between their native language and English.

Phonics

Phonics can be problematic because ELLs often have difficulty discriminating between similar sounds, and because the English language does not have a regular system of correspondence between letters and sounds. Here are some issues related to phonics instruction for ELLs, with discussion of their implications:

Systematic phonics instruction can be very effective in helping ELLs, even those at fairly low levels of language proficiency, learn to decode words. However, this skill does not facilitate reading comprehension if students' oral language proficiency is not developed to the level of the texts they are expected to read. For this reason, reading instruction should be combined with intensive development of the oral language needed to understand the text.

The most effective reading programs for ELLs combine systematic phonics instruction with a print-rich environment that provides exposure to appealing reading materials in varied genres. Skills practice that is embedded in meaningful texts helps ensure that decoding skills don't progress beyond students' ability to comprehend the text.

Many of the components of phonics instruction need to be modified to meet the particular needs of ELLs. For example:

Before phonics instruction begins, students must have the phonemic awareness skills they need in order to perceive individual sounds in words. This is particularly important for sounds that are problematic because of the native language.

Teachers must be aware of whether a students' native language uses a non-Roman alphabet or is non-alphabetic. Even if ELLs have had no instruction in reading in the native language, environmental exposure to a different writing system can negatively affect the ease with which they learn to recognize the letters of the English alphabet.

ELLs must be able to hear and reproduce English sounds with a degree of accuracy commensurate with their pronunciation abilities, before they are taught to make associations between those sounds and particular letters.

It is helpful to explicitly point out different letter combinations that have the same sound, and provide extra practice with them. Multiple spellings of the same sound can be very confusing for ELLs, particularly if they have had some reading instruction in a language such as Spanish, which has almost completely regular sound-symbol correspondences.

Teachers must pay attention to the meanings of the words used to teach phonics skills. Teaching students to decode words they don't know only reinforces the idea that "reading" is pronouncing sounds out loud rather than creating meaning.

Automatic recognition of frequent words is very important for ELLs, whether the words follow phonics rules or not. Although ELLs may develop good decoding skills, their lack of total proficiency in the English language will always slow them down somewhat. Automatic recognition of words can help mitigate this difficulty.

Most ELLs will need additional time to master phonics. Given the need for extra practice to learn to hear and produce the sounds of English, to learn the meanings of the words used in phonics instruction, to learn the multiple combinations of letters that make the same sound, and to learn many more sight words than English speakers need, additional time for phonics instruction should be built into reading programs for ELLs.

Fluency

Fluency is difficult for ELLs because their lack of proficiency in English slows down their ability to decode words and hinders their ability to understand the meanings of the words and how the words combine to produce meaningful sentences and discourse. These suggestions will help teachers adapt fluency instruction for ELLs:

ELLs cannot achieve fluency in oral reading before they have achieved fluency in speaking. Repeated readings of texts that contain unfamiliar vocabulary and sentence structures will not increase fluency. When working on developing fluency, be sure that students are reading texts that they are familiar with and can understand. Students' own language experience stories are a very good choice, as are read-alouds that students have heard several times and discussed.

ELLs' normal self-consciousness about accents and errors can affect their reading fluency, especially if they are asked to read aloud in front of the entire class. This effect will be magnified if students are openly corrected or criticized. Fluency practice for ELLs can be facilitated by having them read along with the teacher, or by reading chorally with a group. If individual oral reading is necessary, provide an authentic purpose for the reading (such as a theatrical performance, or delivering information that the rest of the class needs), and let students practice first with a partner.

Decoding skills, fluency in oral reading, and reading comprehension interact in various ways. The ability to decode words easily is obviously necessary for fluency, and it also facilitates comprehension by allowing the reader to pay more attention to meaning. Comprehension, in turn, facilitates fluency by making it easier to recognize new words. Effective instruction for ELLs integrates these three elements of reading (plus vocabulary learning) into the same lessons using the same text, as each element helps build and reinforce the others, producing a multiplier effect.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is difficult for ELLs; even for quite proficient learners, the extent of their knowledge of vocabulary is only a fraction of what it is for native speakers of English, and the failure to understand even a few words of a text can have negative effects on comprehension. There are many things teachers can do to help ELLs improve their reading vocabulary, including the following:

ELLs need more vocabulary instruction than their native-speaking peers. If a native-speaking child enters kindergarten knowing about 5,000 English words, and an ELL with no previous exposure to English enters the same class knowing no English words, it's obvious that the same instruction for each of them will not produce the same results. Everything a teacher of ELLs does should revolve around vocabulary acquisition-explaining, demonstrating, drawing, repeating, reading, writing, and playing with words throughout every aspect of instruction.

ELLs need instruction in different vocabulary words than their native-speaking peers. ELLs lack many of the basic words that native speakers know, so just teaching the vocabulary words that are suggested in the reading materials you are using will not be sufficient. Here are some of the many types of words that need to be explicitly taught:

words that are crucial for understanding a text;

words that are encountered in a wide variety of contexts;

frequently used words that contain word parts (roots, prefixes, suffixes) that can help students analyze other unknown words;

words with multiple meanings, whether spelled differently (homophones such as to, two, and too) or spelled the same (such as a dining room table and a multiplication table);

figurative language and idiomatic expressions;

academic words that indicate relationships among other words (such as because, therefore, andsince to indicate cause and effect).

ELLs need different vocabulary teaching techniques and strategies than their native-speaking peers. Handing out a list of definitions or asking students to put the words into sentences won't help ELLs learn the meanings of the words. Here are some things to keep in mind:

ELLs who are literate in a language that has many words that are similar in meaning and form to English words should be taught to recognize these cognates and use them to create meaning.

The meanings of words are acquired through multiple opportunities to hear, say, read, and write the words in slightly different meaningful contexts. Teachers will have to create these contexts in the classroom, since incidental learning of vocabulary cannot be relied on for ELLs.

Explicit explanations of unknown words should include contextual support through real objects, pictures or drawings, gestures, examples, demonstrations, or experiments that accompany the verbal explanations.

The use of context clues to infer meaning is not always successful with ELLs because they may not understand the context well enough to infer an accurate meaning.

Having to explain what a word means to other students helps develop comprehension of the full meaning of the word.

Comprehension

Reading comprehension is more difficult for ELLs than for native speakers for various reasons. Three of the most important reasons are discussed here:

ELLs are more likely than native speakers to lack the background knowledge necessary for understanding texts. ELLs' prior educational experiences may have been substandard or interrupted, so reading texts that assume certain prior knowledge becomes difficult. Even for students with good educational backgrounds, cultural differences and culturally based assumptions can result in a lack of background knowledge and thus loss of comprehension. Whatever the reasons for a lack of necessary background knowledge, before asking ELLs to read a particular text, teachers must identify information that is prerequisite for understanding the text, evaluate students' prior knowledge of these prerequisites, and fill any gaps that are found. The best kinds of activities for building background knowledge are those that get students involved in manipulating language and concepts, rather than just receiving information from the teacher. These include experiential activities such as science experiments, classification activities, role playing, previewing a reading and generating questions about it, and sharing predictions about the answers to those questions.

The language level of the text to be read, compared with ELLs' language proficiency, is a major factor in how much they will understand of the text. Even advanced ELLs and those who have been redesignated as fluent in English will experience difficulty with unusual vocabulary, figurative language, very complex sentence structures, or unfamiliar styles and genres (just as many native speakers of English do). For this reason, the integration of intensive language development with reading instruction is highly recommended for ELLs at all levels of language proficiency.

Reading comprehension instruction for ELLs needs to be modified to address their needs. Asking ELLs to read the same texts and do the same activities as everybody else will only result in frustration for teachers and failure for students. This is not a matter of "dumbing down" the curriculum or applying different standards. It is a matter of implementing the curriculum at a language level that makes it accessible to ELLs, while at the same time working to develop their oral language so they will be able to comprehend texts at higher levels. Here are some general principles for modifying reading instruction for ELLs:

Provide as much nonverbal support for reading comprehension as possible, including pictures, diagrams, real objects, gestures, acting, and graphic organizers. The support can be used both for helping students understand a reading passage and for assessment, so students can show what they have understood in ways that are not entirely dependent on verbal ability.

Explicitly teach comprehension strategies, such as reader-generated questions, summarizing, and monitoring comprehension. Remember, however, that teaching strategies is not enough; students must practice them with texts that are accessible at their level of language proficiency. If students don't experience successful application of the strategies, they won't even try to use them with other texts.

Plan interactive activities around reading and interpreting texts. Sharing ideas, comparing perspectives, and coming to agreement (or agreeing to disagree) are all ways that students use the language of the text in meaningful ways, and thus progress to higher levels of language proficiency and reading comprehension.

Conclusion

The original intention of this article was to provide specific suggestions for modifying reading programs to meet the needs of English language learners, based on the findings of the National Literacy Panel. Because of the paucity of appropriate research studies, however, the recommendations made in the NLP report are not extensive enough to help teachers build appropriate reading programs for ELLs. I therefore looked beyond the NLP findings and included theory and experience as well as research.

I hope that readers will take this synthesis of research, theory, and experience and integrate it into their ongoing examination of what they do in their classrooms, what happens as a result of what they do, and why it happens. Research can tell us which kinds of practices are effective in general, but ultimately only individual teachers can determine what is most effective for them and the particular group of students they are teaching at the moment.
References
August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.). (2006). Executive summary. Developing literacy in second-language

August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.). (2006). Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the

National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Collier, R., ∓ Thomas, W. P. (1997). School effectiveness for language minority students. Resource

Collection Series #9. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.

The Education Alliance at Brown University. (n.d.). The knowledge loom: Spotlight on elementary literacy.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel:

Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. (NIH Pub. No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Available at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/smallbook.cfm

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners? By Suzanne Irujo, ELL Outlook™ Contributing Writer As a classroom teacher, I was largely ignorant of, and definitely suspicious of, research.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teaching Phonics to Students with Autism 

# data[].attributes.subject
Teaching Phonics to Students with Autism 

# data[].attributes.body
The same concept used in the video can be used to teach consonant digraphs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fun Ideas for Teaching Sight Words to Students With Autism

# data[].attributes.body
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3
Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.A
Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs.

Skill being taught:
*Students will be able to identify common consonant digraphs in words.

*Students will be able to recognize the sounds that are linked to digraphs.

# data[].attributes.body
Repetition helps students retain the information they are learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hungry for the Digraph Th | Lesson Plan | Education.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This quirky lesson will have young readers hungry to identify three and four letter words containing the digraph "th" in Eric Carle's classic The Hungry Caterpillar.

# data[].attributes.body
General Phonics Assessments

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It is the beginning of a new school year, after a school holiday of 6-8 weeks. Have you decided what you are going to start teaching in the area of phonics? Have you thought of the phonics assessment you will conduct this year? One of the great features of Phonics Hero (get your free Teacher Account here) is that it provides child and class progress reports so you can quickly see what a student or class had achieved by the end of term last year.

Watch this video to see how to access these reports:

The Summer Effect

It is dangerous, however, to assume that a student can or should pick up where he left off. In my experience, in the absence of 6-8 weeks of phonics revision and application, some students (in particular, those with specific learning difficulties related to memory deficits) have slipped back in their level of performance by up to a full term. In contrast, other students, who have been revising and/or applying their phonics knowledge and skills over the holidays, may now be performing at a higher level than before.

This 'summer effect' is particularly pronounced with disadvantaged primary students, who have been found to lose 1.5 years of reading skills over the summer months (Cooper et al. 1996). You don't want to start off the year with a frustrated or bored student. How can you know where you should start teaching phonics? By assessing current phonic skills using our phonics assessment resources!

What Phonic Skills Should I Assess in the Early Years?

Decoding (reading) and encoding (writing) require a number of phonics-related skills and each of the following should be assessed:

Phonological and phonemic awareness

Letter (grapheme) - sound (phoneme) correspondences (GPCs)

Blending of sounds (oral and written)

Segmenting of words (oral and written)

Sentence reading and writing

What Phonics Assessment can I Use?

a) Phonological and phonemic awareness

The skills of syllabification, rhyme recognition, and phoneme isolation and manipulation are central to accurate decoding and encoding. There are a number of good Phonological Awareness tests that you can use. These include the Sutherland Phonological Awareness Test Revised, the Preschool and Primary Inventory of Phonological Awareness, and the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing.

A free basic Phonological Awareness Skills Screener is available here.

b) Letter-sound correspondence

To assess letter-sound correspondences, use a checklist drawn from your literacy program. Here are your phonics assessments for Phonics Hero.

To assess phoneme/sound knowledge, show the student the prompt sheet. Point to a letter(s), for example 's' and ask 'When you see this, what sound does your mouth make?' Record accuracy with a 'y' or 'n'. Where multiple responses are expected (e.g. 'c' as /k/ and /s/) note those known. This must be an individual assessment.

For Part 2 and 3, the prompt sheet includes all of the spelling choices within that unit (e.g. 'ea', 'ee', 'y' and 'e'). When assessing Part 2, point to each spelling choice and ask the child: "When you see this, what long vowel sound does your mouth make?" Remember that some letter groups can represent more than one sound (e.g. 'e' as in 'we' or as in 'egg'). If a child gives an alternative sound, ask: "What other sound can your mouth make when you see these letters?"

To assess spelling of the sound-letter correspondence, provide the student with the sound and ask him to provide the possible spelling/s. This can be an individual or group assessment. Where multiple responses are expected (e.g. /s/ spelled 's', 'ss', 'c', 'ce' or 'se'), note the spellings known. You can use the same assessment record we have provided.

c) Blending of sounds

Ability to orally blend sounds is included in many phonological awareness tests.

It is compulsory in all state schools in the UK to administer to Year 1 students a Phonics Screening Check. This is administered again at the end of Year 2 if students have not reached the expected standard in Year 1. The check consists of 20 real words and 20 pseudo-words that a pupil reads aloud to the teacher. Increasingly, the Australian states are looking at the development of an Australian version of this test for Year 1 students - read more about it here.

In both checks, students are given nonsense/pseudo words (words like 'spret' or 'ged') to read to ensure that they use phonic knowledge and decoding skills rather than other word recognition strategies such as remembering the shape of a known word or using pictures to guess the word.

Here are your phonics assessments for nonsense words.

I always record incorrect responses and analyse them later to determine what knowledge and understandings are absent.

d) Segmenting of words

Oral segmentation of words is included in phonological awareness tests. There are a number of standardised spelling tests on the market, but these may not be very helpful in the determination of where to start teaching. Again, here are your assessment tools:

Record any incorrect responses on the sheet in the Result box. This will allow you to analyse the part of the word that is problematic.

e) Reading and spelling of irregular words

Each literacy program has its own list of phonically irregular words to be learned for reading and spelling (containing words such as 'said' and 'friend'). This should form the basis of a checklist. Here are your assessments to align with Phonics Hero:

Part 1: Prompt sheet and assessment sheet

Part 2: Prompt sheet and assessment sheet

Ask the student to read and spell the words on your list.

f) Reading and writing of sentences

Decodable text (containing words made up of only GPCs and sight words explicitly taught) should be used to assess sentence reading and writing. There are a number of commercial decodable reading series from which you can draw sentences. SPELD SA's website provides free-to-download decodable texts. To assess writing, dictate sentences in phrases of about 3 words.

The Phonics Assessment in Phonics Hero

When children start playing Phonics Hero they will be presented with the option to start at the beginning or take a phonics assessment, like this:

If you choose the assessment option, the game uses nonsense words for the phonics assessment, like this:

One thing to remember is your phonics assessment is always going to be better than a computer's so I would recommend you move the children based on your own data. You can move children's levels from your Teacher Account - this video shows you how.

Differentiation

Reading and writing are developmental processes, so within any year group there is likely to be at least a five-year spread in skills and knowledge. This is why an individual phonics assessment at the start of the academic year is so important. Once you have the information about a student's knowledge and skills, you can assign that student to the appropriate starting place. The Phonics Hero program can be used alongside a variety of explicit, systematic phonics instruction programs. It allows you to individualise a student's learning, determining the Part and Level on which he should start work and how long he should spend there.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Phonics Assessment: Don't Assume - Assess Every Student!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It is the beginning of a new school year, after a school holiday of 6-8 weeks. Have you decided what you are going to start teaching in the area of phonics? Have you thought of the phonics assessment you will conduct this year?

# data[].attributes.body
Focus Area: Phonics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Most of the assessments here should be given one-on-one. It is important that you have a non-distracting, comfortable testing environment for students, and that the rest of the class is engaged in a task or assignment and working quietly. It's even better if you can arrange for another teacher to be present while you are performing assessments.

This list of informal assessments is not all-inclusive; there are components of reading that these tools do not assess. This information is also available in chart form.

Letter/sound recognition

About this assessment

Familiarity with the letters of the alphabet is essential to the development of reading skills. Instruction should be geared towards unknown letters and their sounds. Students should be able to recognize the letters in both uppercase and lowercase forms.

What it measures

Ability to recognize letters and sounds.

Examples of assessment questions

Show student one letter at a time and ask:

Can you tell me what letter this is? (Record the student's response)

Can you tell me what sound it makes? (Record the student's response)

Age or grade typically mastered

Many students enter kindergarten with the ability to recognize letters. Fewer students recognize the letter sounds. Both are taught in kindergarten.

When should it be assessed?

Assess letter/sound recognition three times during kindergarten, at the start of school, at mid-year, and at the end of the year.

Concepts of print awareness

About this assessment

Concepts of print are usually learned incidentally as children are exposed to books and story readings at home and at school. Concepts of print include an understanding that: print carries meaning, that books contain letters, words, sentences, and spaces. It also includes understanding what books are used for, and that books have parts such as a front cover, back cover and a spine. Eventually, students learn more sophisticated ideas such as understanding that we begin reading on the left and read across the page to the last word on the right, and then we got to the next line, begin reading on the left, and so on.

What it measures

If a student understands:

That print has meaning

That print can be used for different purposes

The relationship between print and speech

There is a difference between letters and words

That words are separated by spaces

There is a difference between words and sentences

That there are (punctuation) marks that signal the end of a sentence

That books have parts such as a front and back cover, title page, and spine

That stories have a beginning, middle, and end

That text is read from left to right and from top to bottom

Examples of assessment questions

Give the student a book and ask the following questions. "Can you show me:"

a letter?

a word?

a sentence?

the end of a sentence (punctuation mark)?

the front of the book?

the back of the book?

where I should start reading the story?

a space?

how I should hold the book?

the title of the book?

how many words are in this sentence?

Age or grade typically mastered

Some students enter kindergarten with an understanding of print concepts, but other will master it as the school year goes on.

When should it be assessed?

Assess concepts of print twice during kindergarten, at the start of school and at mid-year. In addition, as you model story reading techniques to help guide instruction, identify students who need additional support, and determine if the pace of instruction should be increased, decreased, or remain the same.

Phonological awareness

About this assessment

Phonological awareness is a necessary part of reading instruction. Children can show you they have phonological awareness in several ways. It is necessary as the classroom teacher to determine strengths and weaknesses to plan instruction.

What it measures

Recognizing a word in a sentence shows the ability to segment a sentence

Recognizing a rhyme shows the ability to identify words that have the same ending sounds

Recognizing a syllable shows the ability to separate or blend words the way that they are pronounced

Understanding onset-rime shows the ability to blend the first sound in the word (onset) and the rest of the word (rime)

Examples of assessment questions

Word
How many words are in this sentence? "I am happy." (Correct response: 3)

Rhyme
Do these words rhyme? big, fig(Correct response: Yes)

What about key, tree? (Correct response: Yes)

Syllable blending
I am going to say a word in parts. Listen: o...pen What word did I say? (Correct response: open)

Syllable segmentation
Can you tell me the two word parts in open? (Correct response: o...pen)

Syllable deletion
Say open without the -pen. (Correct response: o)

Onset-rime
What word do these sounds make? /s/ – /ee/ (Correct response: see)

How about /h/ – /op/? (Correct response: hop)

Age or grade typically mastered

Word: Age 3

Rhyme: Age 4

Syllable blending: Age 4

Syllable segmentation: Kindergarten

Syllable deletion: Kindergarten

Onset-rime: The middle of kindergarten

When should it be assessed?

Typically, phonological awareness is assessed during kindergarten and throughout first grade. During the beginning of kindergarten, assessment should be limited to recognizing words, rhyme, syllable blending, and segmentation to help guide instruction.

Phonemic awareness

What it measures

Phoneme matching is the ability to identify words that begin with the same sound.

Phoneme isolation is the ability to isolate a single sound from within a word.

Phoneme blending is the ability to blend individual sounds into a word.

Phoneme segmentation is the ability to break a word into individual sounds.

Phoneme manipulation is the ability to modify, change, or move the individual sounds in a word.

Examples of assessment questions

Remember, when a letter appears between slash marks, you should say the letter sound, and not the letter name.

Phoneme matching
Which words sound alike? man, sat, sip (Correct response: sat, sip)

Phoneme isolation – initial (first) sound
What's the first sound in sat? (Correct response: /s/)

Phoneme isolation – final (last) sound
What's the last sound in sat? (Correct response: /t/)

Phoneme isolation – medial (middle) sound
What's the middle sound in sat? (Correct response: /a/)

Phoneme blending
What word do these sounds make? /h/ – /o/ – /t/ (Correct response: hot)

Phoneme segmentation
What sounds do you hear in hot? (Correct response: /h/ – /o/ – /t/)

Phoneme manipulation – initial (first) sound
Say mat without the /m/ sound. (Correct response: at)

Phoneme manipulation – final (last) sound
Say mat without the /t/ sound. (Correct response: ma)

Phoneme manipulation – substitution
Say pig. (Correct response: pig)

Now change the /p/ in pig to /f/. (Correct response: fig)

Age or grade typically mastered

Phoneme matching: The middle of kindergarten

Phoneme isolation – initial (first) sound: The middle of kindergarten

Phoneme isolation – final (last) sound: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme isolation – medial (middle) sound: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme blending: Late kindergarten or early first grade

Phoneme segmentation: First grade

Phoneme manipulation – initial (first) sound: First grade

Phoneme manipulation – final (last) sound: First grade

Phoneme manipulation – substitution: Middle to end of first grade or early second grade

When should it be assessed?

Phonemic awareness assessments should be done three times during the kindergarten and first grade years to help guide instruction.

Informal (qualitative) reading inventory

What it measures

Grade level reading

Fluency

Comprehension

Vocabulary

Oral reading accuracy

Examples of assessment questions

Choose a grade level passage for the student to read. As the student is reading complete the oral reading accuracy and reading fluency assessments. After the student finishes the passage, check for understanding through explicit and implicit questions. Also, ask open-ended questions about the vocabulary found in the passage.

Age or grade typically mastered

This assessment can be given to students in grades one through twelve. Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed

The informal reading inventory is an on-going assessment, and should be completed several times throughout the child's schooling. In kindergarten, perform the informal reading inventory twice per year, at mid-year and at the end of school. In first and second grades, it should be done three times, at the beginning of the school year, at mid-year, and at the end of the year. If a child is struggling, the inventory should be done more often in order to have an accurate picture of the child's progress.

Reading comprehension

About this assessment

Reading comprehension assessments are the most common type of published reading test that is available. The typical type of reading comprehension assessment involves asking a child to read a passage of text that is leveled appropriately for the child's age or grade, and then asking explicit, detailed questions about the content of the text. An example of a common reading comprehension assessment is the Informal Reading Inventory (IRI), also known as the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI).

There are variations on the basic reading comprehension assessments. For example, instead of questions about facts found directly in the text, the child could be asked to answer questions about information that is implied in the text, or the child might be asked to retell the story in the child's own words.

Oral reading accuracy

About this assessment

This assessment provides a measure of a student's oral reading accuracy by giving teachers insight into a student's individual reading level. It allows the teacher to listen and record reading behaviors such as the number of errors a student makes, if the student substitutes words, or if the student needs prompting from the teacher.

The information offered by this assessment is limited. For example, it does not measure phonological ability, vocabulary, or comprehension. This is why it is often given in conjunction with other assessments such as the informal reading inventory. It should never be used in isolation.

Note: When children read orally, they usually concentrate on reading accurately and do not pay as much attention to comprehension of the content. It is also important to remember that if this assessment is used with students who are new to learning English, it should be given both in English and the child's primary language.

What it measures

Oral reading accuracy. It also provides the teacher with insight into a student's ability to use strategies to decode unfamiliar words.

Examples of assessment questions

Choose a passage for the child to read aloud. As the child reads, take notes on words read correctly and incorrectly.

Age or grade typically mastered

First through third grade.

When should it be assessed?

Reading accuracy assessments can be given as part of an informal reading inventory or combined with a comprehension assessment to yield more information. Reading accuracy should be assessed several times throughout the year to help you plan on-going instruction. Are students reading on grade level? Do some students require additional support? Do your students have rich vocabularies? Are your students able to read age-appropriate material?

Steps in administering this assessment

1. Choose a book that is age appropriate, but unfamiliar to your student. (This gives a more accurate picture of a child's ability in handling texts.)

2. Ask the student to read the story aloud to you and then at the end tell you what the story was about.

3. You should familiarize yourself with the following scoring information prior to administering this assessment:

Reading behavior

How to score

Read correctly (no error)

Check mark over word

Omission (one error)

Long dash over word omitted

Insertion (one error)

^ at point of insertion with the inserted word written above it

Repetition of a word (no error)

Mark above word with a capital R

Repetition of a phrase (no error)

Capital R with a line and an arrow stretching across phrase repeated

Self correction (no error)

Capital SC above the word to indicate child has self-corrected

Unable to read word (one error)

T for Teacher prompt

Decodes a word in an obvious manner (no error)

Mark individual sounds read within the word followed by a check mark if eventually read correctly or a circle if read incorrectly

Read incorrectly (one error)

Circle word

What should you count as an error when giving this assessment?

Substituting a word

Passage reads: The tall fir tree.

Omitting a word

Passage reads: The tall fir tree.

Inserting a word

Passage reads: A dark and stormy night.

Needs prompting (if the student has to be told a word by the person administering the running record)

Passage reads: I wish that people...

4. As the student reads, mark each word on the form by using the symbols above. Place a check mark above the words read correctly.

5. If the student reads a word incorrectly or substitutes a word, record what is said above the actual word.

6. As the student reads, pay attention to his or her behavior. Is the student using context clues (from the sentence or pictures), structure (language sounds correct) and visual cues (using beginning sounds, familiar word chunks, etc.) to read words and gather meaning?

7. Intervene as little as possible when a student is reading.

8. If the student is stuck on a word, wait 5-10 seconds before you tell him or her the word.

9. After the reading, ask the student to tell you about what he or she has just read. Make notes on the following:

Can the student tell you what happened in the story in his or her own words?

Does the student include the different parts of a story (the characters, setting, events, problem and resolution)?

Can the student identify the main idea and supporting details?

Does the student use some of the vocabulary found in the text?

Is the student's retelling minimal, adequate or very complete?

What do I do with the information obtained from this assessment?

The information gathered while completing an oral reading accuracy assessment can be used to determine error, accuracy, and self-correction rates. To calculate a student's reading accuracy rate, divide the total words read correctly by the total words read. For example, if a student read a passage containing 100 words and made 5 errors:

95 (total words read correctly) / 100 (total words read) = 95% word accuracy

Use the accuracy rate along with the information gained in the student's story retelling to determine whether the text the student read was too easy, just right, or too difficult for the reader. Below is a general breakdown to use to help guide you when choosing texts for students:

Oral reading accuracy

What this says about the text

95-100%

Too easy; the text does not present a challenge

90-94%

Just right; the text is challenging but manageable

89% and below

Too difficult; the text is frustrating for the reader

If a student can read a book with 100% word accuracy but can only give a minimal retelling of the story, do not choose a higher leveled book. We read to get meaning; if a child is not getting meaning from a text they must be instructed on comprehension strategies. Word accuracy without comprehension is not acceptable.

What should I be looking for when I give an oral reading accuracy assessment?

Giving an oral reading accuracy assessment and asking a child to retell reveals many things about a child's reading ability. There are other things to be on the look out for and can be taught in the moments following this assessment:

Has the student mastered directionality, letter-sound correspondence, return sweep, etc?

Did the student make "good errors" when phonetically reading a word (i.e., reading island as "is land" instead of "eye land")?

Was there an attempt to self-correct errors?

Did the student attempt to decode an unknown word?

Was the student's reading slow and labored, or fluent?

Did the student use expression while reading?

Reading fluency

What it measures

How many words a child reads correctly in one minute.

Examples of assessment questions

Choose an appropriate passage for the student to read aloud. As the student reads, complete a record for one minute.

Age or grade typically mastered

Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed?

Fluency assessments should be completed throughout the year to help guide instruction.

Word recognition

What it measures

Sight word vocabulary at a given grade level.

Examples of assessment questions

Ask a child to read from a list of words.

Age or grade typically mastered

Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed?

Word recognition should be assessed three times during the year for students in kindergarten through second grade to help guide instruction.

Phonic elements

What it measures

Phonic elements at a given grade level.

Examples of assessment questions

What sound do the letters 's' 'h' make? (Correct response: /sh/)

How can I turn cap into cape? (Correct response: Add an 'e' to the end of the word.

Age or grade typically mastered

Students should be expected to master age-appropriate material.

When should it be assessed?

Phonic elements should be assessed several times throughout the year in grades one through three to help guide instruction.

Portfolios

About this assessment

Portfolios can be used to document students' achievement and progress. Portfolios give an accurate picture of an individual's strengths and weaknesses. Instruction on how to pick a piece of work to place in a portfolio (does it show a concept that was struggled with then understood, does it demonstrate an understanding of a concept? Is it something you are proud of?) is beneficial for students. This type of instruction engages the student to reflect on his or her own work. Portfolios encourage students to take an active role in learning information they feel they have not yet mastered.

Portfolios can help guide instruction. Through looking at a piece of child's work, a teacher can quickly see what lessons are further needed. For example, by looking at a student's writing a teacher may determine lessons in using commas correctly need to be revisited.

Types of portfolios

Collection
The collection may consist of a folder that holds samples of a student's work. The collection should include representative examples of the various types of student work, such as tests, writing samples, and homework assignments.

Display portfolio
A container or box containing a selection of work documenting a student's progress may hold work in this type of portfolio. This type of portfolio may be used to share with parents at conferences. Pieces of work are carefully selected by both teachers and students to show and share with parents/guardians during conferences.

Teacher/student assessment portfolio
A collection of documentation including copies of work in the student's display portfolio, tests, anecdotal notes, conference summaries, contacts made with parents, etc. This portfolio is used by the teacher to aid in discussions with administrators, other teachers, parents, etc about a particular child.

* To view this file, you'll need a copy of Acrobat Reader. Most computers already have it installed, or you can download it now.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Types of Informal Classroom-Based Assessment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Most of the assessments here should be given one-on-one. It is important that you have a non-distracting, comfortable testing environment for students, and that the rest of the class is engaged in a task or assignment and working quietly. It's even better if you can arrange for another teacher to be present while you are performing assessments.

# data[].attributes.headline
Benchmarks for Native Speakers Aren't Appropriate for ELLs

# data[].attributes.subject
Benchmarks for Native Speakers Aren't Appropriate for ELLs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Benchmarks for native speakers aren’t appropriate for ELLs