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Informal Assessment Strategies: A-Z forthe Math Classroom

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Informal Assessment Strategies: A-Z forthe Math Classroom

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What makes an effective teacher? Better yet, how do you make your teaching strategies more effective so you know that students are learning? Research has shown that teacher preparation, knowledge of subject matter, and experience, combined, are the top leading factors of an effective teacher.

But what else do you think it takes in order for your teaching to really count? Here are a few suggestions on how to make your teaching strategies more effective in your classroom.

Think about Your Students through Your Teaching Strategies

In order to make teaching more effective you need to first think about your students. Think about who they are: Consider their age, gender, ethnicity, levels of interest, knowledge experience, etc. Take all of this into account before you plan your lessons. Remember that every child learns differently, and in order for your teaching to be more effective, and for your students to really grasp what you are teaching them, you must consider each individual student.

Establish Clear Objectives

Efficient, effective teaching begins with how you design your curriculum. An effective teacher always has clear objectives. They begin by asking themselves, "What do I want my students to know by the end of this lesson?" and "What do I want them to do with this knowledge?" Think about what you as the server of the information have to offer your students. Having clear objectives both cognitive and behavioral for your students is your map. It is a guide to help you get your students where you want them to go. This plan is your framework to help your students succeed in your classroom.

Discuss Your Expectations

Start each day by discussing your expectations with your students. Tell them what they will be doing, why they will being doing it, and what you expect of them throughout the process. By giving them a sense of purpose, you are setting the tone for a great day of learning. This is an important step that you should take each day of you want to make your teaching more effective.

Be Unpredictable

Grab your students' attention by asking them a thought-provoking question. Stay away from the predictable "Good morning class, today we will begin by ... ." Instead, activate students' prior knowledge and critical thinking skills by asking a question, setting up a problem, or relating class content to the real-world.

Think About Your Delivery

The way you speak and deliver information is an essential part of being an effective teacher. If you are monotone and boring all the time, then students will not be drawn to you, and will not care what you are teaching them. Here are a few quick tips to keep in mind when you are delivering information to your students.

Speak naturally.

Talk, don't lecture.

Pause before new points.

Repeat and emphasize critical points.

Use direct eye contact when speaking.

Use metaphors and similes.

Use gestures.

Make Students Interact

Successful teachers know that learning takes place in an active environment where their students can build connections and interactions with one another. You can build student interaction by setting up exercises where all students have to intermingle with each other. Cooperative learning groups are a great way for students to work together and learn together. Just assign a problem or a hypothesis and have students work together to solve it.

Get Regular Feedback

An effective teacher knows the importance of getting feedback from their students. They take the time at the end of the day to ask their students what the most important thing that they learned from the lesson was, and what they liked and didn't like about the lesson. They check for student understanding from time to time by reviewing students' notes, and giving quizzes and questionnaires. They also invite their colleagues to watch them teach, and ask for their honest feedback so they can improve their lessons and make them more effective.

A highly effective teacher knows they are getting through to their students because they truly understand the content that they are teaching, and know how to effectively explain it to their students. They are comfortable with change, take time to learn and explore new tools, and know how to adapt to their students' needs. Successful teachers really know their craft, and never stop learning.
What do you think makes your teaching more effective? Do you have anything that you do in your classroom that makes you think your way of teaching is effective? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below, we would love to hear your ideas. Janelle Cox is an education writer who uses her experience and knowledge to provide creative and original writing in the field of education. Janelle holds a Master's of Science in Education from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. She is also the Elementary Education Expert for About.com, as well as a contributing writer to TeachHUB.com and TeachHUB Magazine. You can follow her at Twitter @Empoweringk6ed, or on Facebook at Empowering K6 Educators.

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What makes an effective teacher? Better yet, how do you make your teaching strategies more effective so you know that students are learning? Research has shown that teacher preparation, knowledge of subject matter, and experience, combined, are the top leading factors of an effective teacher.

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Long hailed as a melting pot of cultures, America is home to millions of immigrants - whether their ancestors sailed across on the Mayflower or they moved to the country last week. Research by the National Center for Educational Statistics found that one-third of U.S. students are considered racial or ethnic minorities, a number that is set to increase to more than half by 2050. In this changing educational landscape, teachers are challenged with creating inclusive classrooms where students of all backgrounds feel represented and welcomed. The following guide explores how teachers can build inclusive multicultural learning environments.

Finding a Place for Culture in the Classroom

What is Culture?

Culture is a broad term, and one that is not easily summed up. In her book Culture Learning: The Fifth Dimension on the Language Classroom, author Louise Damen defined culture as the "learned and shared human patterns or models for living; day-to-day living patterns [that] pervade all aspects of human social interaction. Culture is mankind's primary adaptive mechanism." Individuals from varied nationalities, ethnicities, and races all bring cultural traditions to their interactions, and it's up to teachers to recognize, celebrate and share these different perspectives. The following graphic displays some of the many ways that culture affects learning, both inside and outside the classroom:
In the Classroom Outside of the Classroom
What is Multicultural Education?

Multicultural education is not a task to be done or even an end goal to be accomplished. Instead, it is an approach to education that aims to include all students, promote learning of other cultures, and teach healthy social skills in a multicultural setting. "It is the present and future of education," according to Shilpa Bhouraskar, who runs a business offering online courses to students worldwide. "Multicultural classrooms are a melting pot of learning," she says. "Rather than a passive, one-way flow of learning from teacher to student, there is a brainstorming of ideas, stories, and experiences that enrich the educational experience in ways that are impossible in monocultural classes."

Classroom Resources for Multicultural Education

Using different activities and games in multicultural classrooms is an excellent way to foster inclusivity and encourage students to share their heritage. It's also a beneficial way for teachers to involve students in different styles of study to immerse them in their learning. Sharing about oneself within the confines of an activity is often much easier than being asked open-ended questions and put "on the spot." These activities can then provide a safe space for dialogue and serve as an entryway into more in-depth interactions. The following section outlines some examples of activities and games appropriate for different age groups.

Classroom Activities

Elementary School

Secondary School

Digital Holiday Field Trip Grades 1-5 Take a virtual field trip to different students' places of origin, on days when their country or culture is celebrating a holiday unique to them.

Immigration Stories Middle or high school Use Ellis Island's interactive online tour to learn about different cultures that immigrated to America. Expand the activity by allowing students to share their unique families' immigration stories.

Support and Resources for Teachers

Educating the future generation is a challenging job on its own, but for educators committed to culturally responsive teaching, the task can feel overwhelming at times. Fortunately, they don't have to go it alone-there are numerous resources both within schools and online. Some of the top places that teachers can turn to for support include:
School Counselors
School counselors typically work one-on-one with students and gain a fuller understanding of a child's background and home life. They can help teachers understand challenges that your students are facing outside of the classroom that can be affecting their learning.
Principals
Principals can be the driving force to help teachers enact change, engage parents, and set up meetings or events to encourage inclusive behaviors. They can be key leaders to implement multicultural learning strategies school-wide.
The National Association for Multicultural Education
This professional association provides resources and hosts an annual conference for teachers striving for social justice and equity in their classrooms.
Center for Multilingual Multicultural Research
Operating at the University of Southern California, this group conducts research about best practices in multicultural teaching and shares its findings regularly.
Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence
CREDE offers research, curriculum development tips, videos, and resources for teachers of diverse classrooms.
Institute on Race and Poverty
An excellent resource for teachers who have students struggling against poverty.

Top 10 Books for Multicultural Learning

Reading aloud is an important teaching tool no matter the classroom, and books featuring children from different cultures can play a vital role in bringing all students together. Teachers can set the stage by reading aloud during class, or by having students take turns. For independent reading, students can be encouraged to choose books that allow them to step outside their culture. Below are some good examples of books that explore themes across varied cultures.

Teacher Resources for ESL Students & Families

ESL, an acronym for English as a Second Language, is a study program for students who are nonnative English speakers. Ideally, ESL teachers can use their students' cultural traditions and customs to help them learn about one another and find topics of conversation in English, although it will take creativity and forethought to effectively incorporate the experiences of students from many different cultural backgrounds. Some of the best resources for multicultural integration and ESL learning are given below.

For Parents & Guardians:
Strengthening Multicultural Education

Parents, guardians and other family members are a crucial component in educating the future generation. They serve as role models, advocates for their children, and links between their children and society as a whole. As active participants in their children's learning, they can help ease the tension, confusion, or frustration that may arise when children are trying to navigate cultural and language differences. The following section highlights some of the ways parents, guardians and other family members can help their children receive the best education possible.

Promoting Inclusion: Solutions to Common Challenges

A classroom attuned to the individual histories and backgrounds of its students is best positioned to be an inviting and stimulating space for all students. Unfortunately, there are still many that fail to embrace and educate students on the beauty of difference. Some of the most common problems of non-inclusive classroom environments along with their solutions are listed below.

Bullying presents an increased risk in classrooms where students aren't properly educated about different cultures.

Help students understand that classmates from other places aren't weird or bad, only different, to help remove motivations that lead to bullying.

Cliques often exclude students from other cultures, as students don't have the tools to interact with children who aren't like them.

Ensure classroom activities are inclusive and designed to engage students with each other, to build friendship and familiarity.

Refraining from talking about culture means students remain ignorant of how their classmates learn and interact with the world.

Make sure lesson plans focus on the cultures and histories of all students in the classroom, not only those from majority groups.

Teachers who don't take time to get to know their students' backgrounds often set a negative precedent for student engagement.

Commit to speaking to all students on a regular basis, to send the message that interacting and learning about one another is important.

When teachers fail to discourage behavior that stems from stereotypes or misconceptions, it can foster bias against students of certain cultural backgrounds.

Teachers should be aware of preconceived ideas about the students in the classroom to guard against biased talk on the part of other students.

Spotlight: Advice for Teaching English Abroad

According to a recent report on international education, the number of international schools has risen by 153 percent in the last 12 years, with more than 529,000 qualified teachers expected to be employed overseas by 2022. Teachers who want to be truly immersed in multicultural classrooms are drawn to these positions, which often pay similar salaries as positions in America. Some of the top tips for succeeding in an international school system include:
Do's DO dress appropriately
Appropriate attire varies dramatically across cultures, and dressing too informally could be a sign of disrespect or show a lack of awareness about how teachers should present themselves.
DO learn how to manage your classroom early on
Different cultures manage classroom behavior in different ways, so observe native teachers and learn about their practices of discipline.
DO understand the country's learning style
School children in America are taught to be engaged, energetic students, but other cultures train students to be quiet listeners. Just because all students aren't raising their hands doesn't mean they aren't learning
Don'ts DON'T single a student out
Whether for praise or discipline, this is a decidedly American teaching habit and should be avoided in most international classrooms. Instead, encourage inclusive behaviors.
DON'T neglect to monitor student progress
New teachers may feel like they are struggling, so it's important to track how your students are doing to help remind you that they-and you-are making progress.
DON'T forget to make inclusive learning fun
While it's important to make sure students feel represented and known, it's also important to make sure there are fun activities that help students naturally engage with each other without feeling like it's an assignment.

Q & A: Advice from a Multiculturalism Expert

Additional Resources for Teachers

Association for Multicultural Science Education
AMSE promotes science education within culturally diverse classrooms. The group provides a newsletter and hosts an annual conference.

International Multicultural Institute
More than 50,000 people have attended the IMCI's annual conferences and workshops in recent years to work on developing inclusive educational institutions.

National Association on Bilingual Education
NABE advocates for teachers in bilingual education, and also offers an annual conference and series of publications.

National Education Association
The NEA devotes a section of its website to sharing resources for handling diversity and multicultural issues within classrooms.

New York Collective of Radical Educators
NYCoRE organizes multicultural events and conferences to encourage inclusivity even after the school bell rings.

The Importance of Multicultural Education
This academic paper by Geneva Gay makes the case for the critical role multicultural awareness and education plays in academic success and inclusivity.

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Multicultural classroom culture is a melting pot of learning. Learn about tips for teaching multicultural students here.

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Transform your math instruction with three strategies you can start using today.

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Your guide to the best sites for kids on the web.

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Building A Culturally Responsive Classroom

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Building A Culturally Responsive Classroom

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Why building a culturally responsive classroom matters for the success of ALL students

Posted:

Have you ever watched a movie with the sound off? If you were lucky, you could perhaps grasp the plot, but a lot of the details were lost so you probably didn't enjoy or relate to the film as much as you could have if you had been able to hear it.

Being in a classroom that does not take into consideration the various identities of its students means some students aren't able to fully engage with the content even with the best teaching practices. This inability to fully engage hurts these students.

When this happens, every student in the class loses out. Culturally responsive classrooms help all students because the practices of such a classroom expand all students' views of the world and broaden their cultural understandings.

I have taught AVID, a college readiness class, for eight years at a large suburban middle school in Hawaiʻi. Through these years teaching students from multiple backgrounds, I have found there are few ways to go about creating a culturally responsive classroom.

Probably the most important step, is to step back and carefully examine your own biases and stereotypes. If you want to take it a step further, you can ask your students to tell if you're biased in some ways and try to truly hear them out. Students can help you identify your implicit bias, which you aren't even aware that you hold.

For example, one of my students told me that I don't select boys to hand out papers or stamp planners. The comment really surprised me because I didn't even know I never called on boys to help me with these tasks. The thing is, I had not even considered that this might be something a student would notice.

I thought about why I was doing this. I examined my own stereotype that girls are helpers and more agreeable and eager to take on tasks than boys. I have since allowed students to volunteer to do these tasks.

Another student pointed out that I say, "Listen up, boys and girls," when I want to get their attention or that at times I'd have them get into gendered groupings. "But what if we don't fit in either category?" the student questioned me.

I realized I wasn't taking into account my non-binary, intersex, or transgender students when I gave only two options for gender so I've made a conscious effort to say, "Students" when I address the class. So now when I want to separate them into two groups, I avoid saying "boys vs girls." I choose something arbitrary like the color of their shoes.

Some dos and don'ts for building culturally responsive classrooms:

Other actions you might try are getting to know your students' cultures and families, facilitating learning by allowing student choice, using different cultural references throughout lessons, and teaching social justice and code switching.

I've seen a shift in my students since I've made an effort to have a more culturally responsive classroom. I see more engagement from all my students. My room has become a place where students feel like, no matter who they are, it's normal and accepted to be themselves.

Do you have strategies that you've found successful in creating a culturally responsive and inclusive classroom? Share them below-I'd love to hear them!

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Building A Culturally Responsive Classroom - Achieve the Core Aligned Materials

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Have you ever watched a movie with the sound off? If you were lucky, you could perhaps grasp the plot, but a lot of the details were lost so you probably didn't enjoy or relate to the film as much as you could have if you had been able to hear it.

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Assessment activities should be quick, enjoyable, and versatile. That's because formative assessment is best when it's ongoing and consistent. Teachers use it in their classrooms to provide critical feedback to students. It helps them to monitor and modify their instruction methods and lesson plans to improve learning outcomes. That's why we must use a variety of assessment activities and change them up frequently to stimulate both students and themselves.

Here's a list of awesome formative assessment activities that we like. They're creative, low-tech, fun and engaging for students. Best of all, they're easy for a teacher to implement on an ongoing basis anytime.

15 Formative Assessment Activities You'll Love Using

Formative assessment is an assessment that's both for learning and as learning. This continual cycle of feedback and improvement makes learning useful and effective. Try these assessment activities with your students and see the results for yourself.

1. Peer Quizzes: Students can write their own questions about the content and then quiz each other. They would also spend time going through the incorrect answers with each other to heighten their understanding.

2. 5x5 Journal: Journalling has been proven to be one of the best reflection tools around for learning. Have students journal about the five most interesting ideas they discover during a lesson. Next, they identify five things that resonate with them about each one and explain why.

3. Past Postcards: Have students adopt the personality of a historical figure and write a postcard to another historical figure from the same era. They can discuss a significant event from history that has just occurred.

4. Cool Collages: Ask students to make a collage or poster from magazine photos for demonstrating their understanding of a concept. They can use standard art materials or use apps designed for drawing.

5. Talk it Out: Students can host their own talk show and discuss the important points of any lesson. They write their own questions and answers, and can even play characters of their own creation.

6. Daring Doodles: Challenge students to use a drawing rather than words to show understanding of a concept. This is the perfect exercise for those kids who have difficulty speaking out in class.

7. Exploration Table: At the end of class, each student answers the following questions presented to them on index cards:

What did we do in class?

Why did we do it?

What did I learn today?

How can I apply it?

What questions do I have about it?

8. 3-2-1: Have students write or talk about 3 things they learned, 2 things they still want to learn, and 1 question they have. These values are interchangeable and can be used in different combinations, or with different questions altogether.

9. Four Corners: This is a great way to encourage dynamic movement while learning multiple-choice questions. Designate each corner of the classroom to represent A, B, C, and D. Students go to the corner that they believe corresponds with the correct answer.

10. Traffic Cards: Students create index cards with a large green marker circle on one side and red on the other. If they are following along and understanding the lesson, the green side of their card is upright and visible to you. When they do not understand something and need clarification, they flip the card to show you the red side. Here is an alternative method that can be downloaded for free and printed on coloured card stock for quick use.

11. Twitter Board: Students summarize what was learned in a lesson using 140 characters. Pin small strips of paper to a poster or cork board to resemble a Twitter feed.

12. Top Ten Lists: Students can write out their ten most important takeaways from a lesson plan or a class discussion. Encourage them to create lists that are humourous and fun.

13. Roll the Dice: Put a die at each desk. At the end of class, each student rolls and briefly answers aloud a question based on the number rolled:

1. I want to remember ...

2. Something I learned today

3. One word to sum up what I learned

4. Something I already knew

5. I'm still confused about ...

6. An "aha" moment that I had today

14. Enthusiasm Example Chart: Here's a great chart for not only collecting feedback but also introducing scatter plots to students. Students rank what they learned that day and how much they enjoyed the lessons. They then elaborate on a Post-It, offering details about what they found helpful to them in having a successful learning day. They can also share what prevented them from having a fulfilling day. Compile the data and discuss it in class the next day.

15. Quick Quotables: Have students create two columns on a piece of paper. On one side have them write 5 or 6 of their most favourite quotes from people they admire. In the adjoining column, have them write their own interpretation of the what the quote means to them and why it appeals to them. If they're feeling good about it, have them consider what makes a great quote as they write their own about ideas that are important to them.

Assessment Activities in Your Pocket

Hopefully, these formative assessment activities have inspired you to devise your own engaging assessment tools. You'll find all these activities and many, many more in our latest resource . This new guide features over 70 quick assessment activities for using in your classrooms. It's a veritable Swiss army knife of the best and most popular formative assessment tools in classrooms today.

Additional Reading

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15 Assessment Activities That Are Fast, Fun, and Formative

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Assessment activities should be quick, enjoyable, and versatile. That's because formative assessment is best when it's ongoing and consistent. Teachers use it in their classrooms to provide critical feedback to students. It helps them to monitor and modify their instruction methods and lesson plans to improve learning outcomes.

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Teaching in multicultural classrooms: tips, challenges and opportunities

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Teaching in multicultural classrooms: tips, challenges and opportunities

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Peterborough is a very interesting city with a population of second, third and even fourth settled generations of Italian and Asian communities. In recent years, because of a variety of reasons, the city has had an enormous influx of mainly eastern European migrants, and because our school has the space they are joining us; at the rate, at the moment of about 25 students a week. We have 40% EAL (English as an additional language) students at the moment.

Peterborough is a very interesting city with a population of second, third and even fourth settled generations of Italian and Asian communities. In recent years, because of a variety of reasons, the city has had an enormous influx of mainly eastern European migrants, and because our school has the space they are joining us; at the rate, at the moment of about 25 students a week. We have 40% EAL (English as an additional language) students at the moment.

I have Roma, Hungarian, Czech, Lithuanian, Slovakian, Russian, African Portuguese, Afghan, British and Asian students (I'm sure I've probably missed some!) in my classes. We have a department of support teachers who assess the students when they arrive and we are in the process of setting up a series of induction classes from every subject so that the students get an idea of what goes in school. We then give the students another similar (age/nationality/gender and so on) student to shadow for a few days and then the students are placed into classes. We feel that they will learn English best if they are immersed in the language; however, we are aware of possible issues (such as war trauma) so we are sensitive about how we deal with each student.

We have a number of adult translators in school, and on occasions, where necessary, we do use students [to translate] but we try not to as that's not why they're in school. We also have a number of teachers who are interested in EAL, of which I am one, and we try to support others when they are not sure how to manage when sometimes the class is made up of predominantly EAL students.

As we teach we try to use a lot of visuals, a lot of student discussion, translated key words, sentence/writing frames and so on to help those EAL students. We also have started having outside of school hours time for families to come in to understand about how the education system works. We had a Roma day last year, as an example. It is a challenge but it can also be enriching for the other students. Some come with incredible talents, such as one particular Roma student who can play the piano and violin extremely beautifully just by listening to a piece of music and then copying it.

Jess Hamer, science teacher at Lampton School in Hounslow

Lampton is a 'complex urban' academy in west London. The school is non-selective and its pupils, who come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, fall below the national average both in terms of ability and socio-economic circumstance. Three quarters speak English as an additional language. However, student achievement is above average and the school has been deemed outstanding in challenging circumstances by Ofsted.

I wouldn't use the word "manage" - it's great to have such a diverse range of nationalities and cultures as students bring their different backgrounds and experiences to the classroom. As a school we celebrate many different festivals from around the world and there is a real sense of understanding between students, more celebrations = more fun! It's reassuring and heart-warming to see that the prejudices that exist in the adult world are virtually non-existent in the classroom.

Sometimes it can be a challenge to teach students with EAL even with support in the classroom. I've had some very amusing "conversations" with students. Once I was trying to explain what a rabbit is and I ended up having to act out a rabbit by jumping along with my hands upright on my head pretending to be ears! The student thought it was hilarious but understood. Having pictures prepared really helps.

I'm also a year 12 form tutor and guiding students who may be the first generation from their family to apply to university is really rewarding. Sometimes these students need additional support through the process as their families have no prior experience to draw from. Role models are really important for students, seeing scientists from a range of backgrounds raises their aspirations. We regularly host events and have visitors or Stem ambassadors giving lectures or taking part in career speed networking events.
I've travelled a fair bit and it really helps my awareness of places and cultures that students talk about. Having conversations and showing understanding really helps build relationships in the classroom. Many teachers at Lampton have had specific EAL training, myself included. I found it to be really useful as it helped me develop strategies for scaffolding language for students and it also taught me to ensure that my lessons are visual and that provide opportunities for students to practice their English.

Raising literacy standards is a big issue for many schools, schools with a high proportion of students with EAL is particularly important. At Lampton we've had a big push on academic literacy, and I'm part of the working group. Each department is implementing strategies for developing subject-specific literacy. In science, we're focusing on the process of reading information and then distilling it to scaffold a succinct paragraph of writing. With my year 7 class we're reading the Horrible Science books and then writing a review.

Teaching students from many cultures is no different to teaching in a school with a single culture - with the exception being having to pay additional attention to language/literacy.

Christopher Waugh, secondary English teacher, London Nautical School

I'm a 41 year old English teacher from New Zealand. I've worked as a teacher for 10 years, the most recent three of which in London. The schools in New Zealand that I worked for had much less of a cultural mix than the one I work in now but New Zealand operates strong bicultural practices in relation to the indigenous people, so my experience there has been of great use in my teaching here, and allows a unique perspective. ( I'm also an other-national in the classroom)

The range of nationalities in my room is an asset. The differing use of language is something we study and examine, their differing cultural perspectives provide a dynamic and vivid forum for debate and the need for mutual respect adds to the general dignity of the environment. The cultural diversity of my classes also creates an imperative not to make assumptions about religion, culture and values that creates room for many other firms of difference. I benefit from this uniquely as a gay teacher as my 'difference' is just another dimension in the wider melting pot.

Being aware of language acquisition processes is vital. Understanding that someone from another language culture with a south London accent who communicates confidently with his peers does not necessarily have access to the same range of formal language devices as someone who comes from an English-language culture.

I find offering opportunities for students to communicate with each other about their culture, origins and background as part of the learning programme (presentations, debates, writing and reading) is a very effective method of demonstrating respect for cultural diversity as well as making the most of the richness of what it offers.

I also find that asking students and their parents for their advice and input is valuable learning for me. Don't be afraid of asking about students' nationality and having them take the lead on embracing the multinational classroom.

Mark Hughes, teacher, Christchurch Primary School in Ilford

I've worked in a variety of classes over my 12 years teaching, all with a high majority of religions, cultures and languages spoken. Christchurch has a high majority of Muslim students (when I started it was 85% but now it is 68%) we also have a high number of Eastern European and children from Asian backgrounds.

Generally most of the children I teach have English as an additional language and can converse and work quite well in English. As a school we 'set' children in ability levels for English work. We do projects such as language of the month, British week, Eid/Diwali/Christmas concerts as well and look for opportunities in lessons to promote different cultures.

When I first started teaching a lot of the customs and cultures of the different children were all new to me, however I've come to embrace them and educate myself about the childrens lives outside of school (tends to help with the teaching side if you know a bit about what goes on at home!)

The different faiths and religions within the school and my class do allow for some great topics and discussions based on tolerance and respect. My wife works in a very middle class/non multicultural school in Hertfordshire and doesn't get the opportunities cropping up as much. We also have a take part in a global curriculum project about what it means to be a good citizen of the world. Looking at topics around the world - wars/tsunamis/child labour/respect/tolerance/historical influences on cultures and so on - all relevant to the chosen year group

I think you need to be open about how little you know; be curious; learn some words and customs, and most importantly show an interest in them.

Holly Miles, foundation teacher, Larkrise Primary

I work at Larkrise Primary - a large multicultural primary school in a deprived area. Being a foundation teacher, the majority of children arrive every September with no English.

The first term is always very quiet as children often are unable to communicate verbally especially if no one speaks their language. I use a lot of visual resources, props for storytelling and so on, and try to keep language very simple. These children do pick up the language very quickly and I hope that by July most will have acquired enough English to communicate with me and their peers.

We try to include all cultural celebrations throughout the year Eid, Diwali, Chinese new year and so on. The lovely thing about teaching this age is children are still very naive to differences in nationality and religion and so are very accepting to all.

Since teaching I have learnt a lot about cultural practices and I think the best way for new teachers to learn is to speak to parents and support staff about their cultures and find out through first hand experiences. As a nursery teacher I did home visits for all children in my class which really helped to give me an insight into where children are coming from.

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Teaching in multicultural classrooms: tips, challenges and opportunities

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Peterborough is a very interesting city with a population of second, third and even fourth settled generations of Italian and Asian communities. In recent years, because of a variety of reasons, the city has had an enormous influx of mainly eastern European migrants, and because our school has the space they are joining us; at the rate, at the moment of about 25 students a week.

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formative assessment examples - - Yahoo Image Search Results

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9 Informal Assessments to Help You Pinpoint What Your Learners Need

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9 Informal Assessments to Help You Pinpoint What Your Learners Need

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In recent years, there has been a lot of discussion about the amount of time that K-12 students spend taking assessments. Many educators, politicians, and parents are concerned that schools may be over-testing children.

It is possible that the question we should be asking is not, "How much time is spent assessing students?" but rather, "What is the purpose and structure of the assessments we are currently implementing?"

We believe the personalized focus and immediate feedback provided by informal assessment may be the answer to the over-assessment and lack of understanding of students' needs in many classrooms.

Keep reading to discover the numerous benefits of informal assessment, along with examples of informal assessments you can easily implement in your classroom.

Are we using the most effective forms of assessment?

Historically, educators have spent a significant amount of time assessing student learning, and these assessments were frequently given in the form of summative evaluations to discover what students had learned in a given unit-or over the course of an entire school year. More often than not, there was little or nothing done to circle back and reteach once the test had been given.

In other words, the test was administered, grades were recorded in the grade book, and the teacher moved on to the next topic, whether the students knew the material or not.

Over the past few years, there has been a movement stressing the importance of carefully analyzing the data that educators are collecting. Much of this has been done in professional learning communities, or PLCs, where educators work in collaboration to develop common assessments for the purpose of evaluating student learning.

After they administer these assessments, teachers meet to discuss the results and brainstorm the best ways to remediate when needed.

Why the solution may be informal assessment

Ideally, the educators will also perform item analysis to figure out if there are problem areas for an individual student or group of students. Are multiple students struggling with the same skill? Do these students share a common misconception that needs to be addressed?

Once problem areas have been identified, teachers must then figure out how to respond to these educational needs. Maybe students would benefit from attending a few individualized support sessions or small-group interventions. Or, teachers may have the flexibility to group their students during a common work time to optimize their resources and allow for differentiation with their grade-level counterparts.

If groups are created, students should not be assigned to them permanently. Instead, they should be moved out of the group once they've mastered the skill and are ready for new material. This means teachers will need to be continuously re-evaluating their students. This re-evaluation should be done in an authentic manner and on a regular basis.

While we have traditionally relied on formal, paper-and-pencil assessments to inform decision making, more and more teachers are choosing to use informal evaluation methods to check student learning and regroup their students. Informal assessment examples include:

Exit slips/tickets

Strategic multiple choice

Skills checklist

Demonstration stations

Photo capture

Student-created quizzes

Individual whiteboard responses

When an informal assessment indicates that students are progressing in their understanding of a topic or standard, they can be formally assessed and, when ready, move out of the assigned group and begin to work on new content, as mentioned above.

7 informal assessment examples that can help you pinpoint exactly what your students need

The great thing about informal assessments is that they help us to gauge students' understanding during the learning process instead of "after the fact." In this way, informal assessment changes teachers' relationship with student learning.

How so?

Through informal assessment, the teacher becomes a guide throughout the learning process, rather than the judge of the student's final product. While committing to informal assessment school-wide can be a game-changer for your learners, it's also important to understand that regularly checking in with kids' learning is essential to good teaching.

We recognize that teachers are already stretched thin when it comes to classroom management and covering all of the required content. To make it easier, we encourage you to look for informal assessment practices that fit into the life of your classroom and result in data that's easy to track and follow through on. To get you started, let's take a deeper look at the seven informal assessment examples we mentioned above.

#1: Exit slips/tickets

As the name implies, this informal assessment is administered at the end of a lesson, before students exit the classroom. Prompts you might use on exit slips/tickets include:

Here are 3 things I learned today...

Here are 2 things I found interesting...

Here is 1 question I still have...

The most important thing I learned today was...

I would like to learn more about...

The best part of today's class was...

Discuss one way today's lesson can be used in your life.

Did working with a partner today make your job easier or harder? Explain why.

When using exit slips/tickets, it's best to get kids in the habit of knowing they will be expected to fill out slips/tickets that follow the same format every time. This helps them to know what they need to be thinking about as they are learning.

If you have students learning virtually, exit slips/tickets are also important from a simple check-in standpoint. In addition to assessing students' understanding of a particular lesson, the slips/tickets can help you to assess students' level of engagement and social-emotional well-being.

#2: Strategic multiple choice

Multiple-choice questions make assessments more reliable, make marking easier, and make student understanding more visible to teachers. To come up with multiple-choice questions that show what and how students are thinking, teachers need to have a good idea of ways kids might misunderstand the information. Teachers can then present one correct response with three possible misunderstandings, or "distractors."

As mentioned earlier, performing item analysis to determine which students chose each distractor can provide helpful insights into common misconceptions, which you can then address with individual students or in a small-group setting.

Evidence-based selected response (EBSR) questions are also an option here. EBSRs have two parts: a traditional multiple-choice question (part 1) followed by a prompt (part 2) to identify the evidence the student used to select his or her response.

#3: Skills checklists

Skills checklists help you to informally evaluate student progress based on your own observations. The checklists can easily be adapted to any subject matter you are teaching or skill you want your students to learn.

Here's how a skills checklist works: Before teaching a unit, develop a list of all the skills each student will learn. When working with students, put either a "+" or "-" to indicate where you think each of the students is with regard to each skill. The data you collect goes into a spreadsheet or directly into an easy-to-use learning management system (LMS) to give you an overall view of your students' progress.

Your checklist should include all the key details about the skill you are trying to assess, such as what the students should know and what level they should be at, in order to properly determine your rating of each skill.

#4: Demonstration stations

The use of demonstration stations is a great way for students to show what they know and to help you determine the best direction for future instruction. In this example of informal assessment, stations are set up at varying times throughout a unit where students are asked to demonstrate their learning.

At each station, there should be an iPad or laptop where students can complete an activity, making the collection of data easy and seamless.

For example, in an early elementary classroom, you could create a demonstration station that contains a mat for each student with their name on it and an assortment of Wikki Stix. By referring to a list of the sight words they are working on, the students can then each make the words on their list using the Wikki Stix.

When they complete the project, students can use the iPad to take a picture of the words they created, making it easy for you to assess their level of accuracy.

#5: Photo capture

Photo capture is another fun and easy way to informally assess student learning. Simply take photos of things that are related to what your students are currently learning. Ask the students to caption or comment on each photo based on their understanding of the subject. You can then assess the captions/comments and give each student a rating on a scale from 1 (deep understanding) to 5 (surface understanding).

In the following example, a teacher posted a photo of Henry Ford to Instagram, and she asked her students to (a) identify Ford and (b) list two things he is famous for:

This activity can be used with non-photo sources as well. For example, students can capture news articles or podcast clips that they find particularly compelling and relate them to the topic of study.

#6: Student-created quizzes

Instead of giving students a quiz, have them create their own!

Formulating questions about newly learned content is a great way to encourage students to engage in deep thinking and focus on the most essential ideas and details. For example, as you're reading a class novel, assign different groups of students to work together to create a quiz on each of the chapters.

After reviewing the quizzes, you can gain added insight by having the groups take each other's quizzes to assess their comprehension of individual chapters in the novel.

#7: Individual whiteboard responses

This informal assessment example is used to quickly assess students' understanding of a concept and identify students who may need extra support. The process is easy: Students simply answer a question on their mini whiteboards and hold up their answers so the teacher can see the entire class's answers at the same time.

You'll need:

Mini whiteboards (or a piece of paper in a sheet protector)

Thin dry-erase markers

Erasers

The procedure is simple:

1. Give each student a whiteboard, marker, and eraser.

2. Ask a question.

3. Students answer the question on the whiteboard.

4. As students are answering the question, walk around the room to check for understanding.

5. When all students are finished, ask them to raise their mini whiteboards all at once.

At a glance, you will be able to easily evaluate who understood the concept and who may need additional support.

How Renaissance supports informal assessment

Renaissance's DnA custom assessment platform is designed to meet a wide variety of district-, school-, and classroom-level testing needs. With more than 80,000 standards-aligned items in core subject areas, along with pre-built assessments and rich reporting, DnA gives you deep insight into what students know-and where they might be struggling.

DnA offers a number of item types for use in custom assessments, including:

This wealth of content allows you to assess students' understanding of a concept in multiple ways, so you can provide the right instruction and feedback to move learning forward.

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Using informal assessment to support learning | Renaissance

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Looking for ways to assess student progress to improve learning? Discover how to implement informal assessment in your classroom.

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Preparing for Cultural Diversity: Resources for Teachers

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Preparing for Cultural Diversity: Resources for Teachers

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Preparing for Cultural Diversity: Resources for Teachers

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How can teachers prepare for diverse classrooms? There isn’t a definitive answer, but there is a wealth of resources online. Discover some helpful links for teachers.

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7 Ways to Help Students Self Assess Effectively

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7 Ways to Help Students Self Assess Effectively

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By Barbara Blackburn
Although our assessment of students is critical to learning, we also want students to learn to assess themselves. Encouraging students to take measures of their own learning is more rigorous than the teacher providing all the assessment.

As always, with greater rigor comes plenty of support. We can't expect students to immediately grasp what it means to gauge their own academic progress.

Let's look at four strategies that allow students to provide a brief snapshot of their learning, then three that are more detailed.
First, you may want to have students assess simply where they are in the learning process. Although these provide a brief look, you could ask students to expand on their responses.

Triangle Reflection

Melinda Crean, author of Top Notch Teaching, shares a way to have students reflect on where they are in the process of learning. Using triangles, she asks students to choose their level of learning.

Musical Notes/Color Clusters

Carolyn Chapman and Rita King in their book Differentiated Assessment Strategies: One Tool Doesn't Fit All provide two ways for students to share how well they understand the content. Both require students to think about their own learning and identify their progress. In musical notes, students use songs to identify their learning stage.

Similarly, in color clusters, students label their learning progress through a series of colors.

Laundry Day

Similarly, in Laundry Day, students group themselves in four categories derived from detergent brands. With the groupings you can then determine how much re-teaching needs to occur.

You also may want to ask students to provide detail on their thinking, rather than simply gauging their progress.

A Bump in the Road

With A Bump in the Road, students reflect of their learning and identify two to four points where they hit bumps in the road, or struggles. Then they partner with another student to see if they can work their way through their struggle.

Muddy Point Board

With Muddy Point Board, you designate an area in the room or a board for students to use to pin questions they have - the "muddy points" that confuse them.

You may have students do this at the end of lessons, or you may use them throughout the lesson. Not only does this provide you a perspective of their learning, it allows you to customize your instruction to their needs.

Reflective Journals

Another strategy for self-assessment is the use of reflective journals. Former middle school teacher Kendra Alston used journals with her students. She asked students to continually reflect on their learning in their daybooks, simple bound notebooks. Then she asked them to write a reflection on their learning at the end of the nine weeks. Some wrote about specific content they learned; others of her students reflected on how they learned.

You can also use journals for students to reflect on specific information about their subject area. For example, in math, students might focus on explanations.

Your students can write in their journals daily, weekly, or at the end of the month or grading period. Students can also keep their journals online in a blog format, or through Google Docs.

Conclusion

Providing students opportunities to reflect and self-assess is an important part of your instruction. It allows students to take ownership of learning, and reflects a more active, rigorous approach to learning. When you use self-assessment techniques frequently, you're gathering information "in real time" that can help fine-tune lessons and differentiate more effectively.
__________________________________
A nationally recognized expert in the areas of rigor and motivation, she collaborates with schools and districts for professional development. Barbara can be reached through her website or her blog. Follow her on Twitter @BarbBlackburn. Barbara Blackburn was named one of the Top 30 Global Gurus in Education in 2017. She is a best-selling author of 16 books including Rigor is Not a Four Letter Word and most recently Rigor and Assessment in the Classroom.

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7 Ways to Help Students Self Assess Effectively

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By Barbara Blackburn Although our assessment of students is critical to learning, we also want students to learn to assess themselves. Encouraging students to take measures of their own learning is more rigorous than the teacher providing all the assessment. As always, with greater rigor comes plenty of support.

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[PDF]​Informal Assessment Strategies: A-Z for the Math Classroom

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[PDF]​Informal Assessment Strategies: A-Z for the Math Classroom

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PerformanceAssessment GuideMultiple Subject Directions and Rubrics Instructional Cycle 2: Assessment-Driven Instruction

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PerformanceAssessment GuideMultiple Subject Directions and Rubrics Instructional Cycle 2: Assessment-Driven Instruction

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Examples of Classroom Instructional Techniques as Well as Specific Activities for Helping Students Build Their Vocabularies

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Examples of Classroom Instructional Techniques as Well as Specific Activities for Helping Students Build Their Vocabularies

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Vocabulary instruction techniques

Teaching specific words

A teacher plans to have his third-grade class read the novel Stone Fox, by John Reynolds Gardiner. In this novel, a young boy enters a dogsled race in hopes of winning prize money to pay the taxes on his grandfather's farm. The teacher knows that understanding the concept of taxes is important to understanding the novel's plot. Therefore, before his students begin reading the novel, the teacher may do several things to make sure that they understand what the concept means and why it is important to the story. For example, the teacher may:

engage students in a discussion of the concept of taxes; and/or

read a sentence from the book that contains the word taxes and ask students to use context and their prior knowledge to try to figure out what it means.

To solidify their understanding of the word, the teacher might ask students to use the word taxes in their own sentences.

Word learning strategies

Of course, it is not possible for teachers to provide specific instruction for all the words their students do not know. Therefore, students also need to be able to determine the meaning of words that are new to them but not taught directly to them. They need to develop effective word-learning strategies. Word-learning strategies include:

how to use dictionaries and other reference aids to learn word meanings and to deepen knowledge of word meanings;

how to use information about word parts to figure out the meanings of words in text; and

how to use context clues to determine word meanings.

Using dictionaries and other reference aids

Students must learn how to use dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauruses to help broaden and deepen their knowledge of words, even though these resources can be difficult to use. The most helpful dictionaries include sentences providing clear examples of word meanings in context.

As his class reads a text, a second-grade teacher discovers that many of his students do not know the meaning of the word board, as in the sentence, "The children were waiting to board the buses." The teacher demonstrates how to find board in the classroom dictionary, showing students that there are four different definitions for the word. He reads the definitions one at a time, and the class discusses whether each definition would fit the context of the sentence. The students easily eliminate the inappropriate definitions of board, and settle on the definition, "to get on a train, an airplane, a bus, or a ship."

The teacher next has students substitute the most likely definition for board in the original sentence to verify that it is "The children were waiting to get on the buses" that makes the best sense.

Using word parts

Word parts include affixes (prefixes and suffixes), base words, and word roots.

Affixes

are word parts that are "fixed to" either the beginnings of words (prefixes) or the ending of words (suffixes). The word disrespectful has two affixes, a prefix (dis-) and a suffix (-ful).

Base words

are words from which many other words are formed. For example, many words can be formed from the base word migrate: migration, migrant, immigration, immigrant, migrating, migratory.

Word roots

are the words from other languages that are the origin of many English words. About 60% of all English words have Latin or Greek origins.

Knowing some common prefixes and suffixes (affixes), base words, and root words can help students learn the meanings of many new words. For example, if students learn just the four most common prefixes in English (un-, re-, in-, dis-), they will have important clues about the meaning of about two thirds of all English words that have prefixes. Prefixes are relatively easy to learn because they have clear meanings (for example, un- means "not" and re- means "again"); they are usually spelled the same way from word to word; and, of course, they always occur at the beginnings of words.

Learning suffixes can be more challenging than learning prefixes. This is because some suffixes have more abstract meanings than do prefixes. For example, learning that the suffix -ness means "the state or quality of" might not help students figure out the meaning of kindness. Other suffixes, however, are more helpful, for example, -less, which means "without" (hopeless, thoughtless); and -ful, which means "full of" (hopeful, thoughtful).

Latin and Greek word roots are found commonly in content-area school subjects, especially in the subjects of science and social studies. As a result, Latin and Greek word parts form a large proportion of the new vocabulary that students encounter in their content-area textbooks. Teachers should teach the word roots as they occur in the texts students read. Furthermore, teachers should teach primarily those root words that students are likely to see often.

Here are some examples of how to use word parts in teaching vocabulary:

A second-grade teacher wants to teach her students how to use the base word play as a way to help them think about the meanings of new words they will encounter in reading. To begin, she has students brainstorm all the words or phrases they can think of that are related to play. The teacher records their suggestions: player, playful, playpen, ballplayer, and playing field. Then she has the class discuss the meaning of each of their proposed words and how it relates to play.

A third-grade teacher identifies the base word note. He then sets up a "word wall," and writes the word note at the top of the wall. As his students read, the teacher has them look for words that are related to note and add them to the wall. Throughout their reading, they gradually add to the wall the words notebook, notation, noteworthy, and notable.

Using context clues

Context clues are hints about the meaning of an unknown word that are provided in the words, phrases, and sentences that surround the word. Context clues include definitions, restatements, examples, or descriptions. Because students learn most word meanings indirectly, or from context, it is important that they learn to use context clues effectively.

Not all contexts are helpful, however. Some contexts give little information about a word's meaning. An example of an unhelpful context is the sentence, "We heard the back door open, and then recognized the buoyant footsteps of Uncle Larry." A number of possible meanings of buoyant could fit this context, including heavy, lively, noisy, familiar, dragging, plodding, and so on. Instruction in using context clues as a word-learning strategy should include the idea that some contexts are more helpful than others.

Classroom examples

Extended and active engagement with vocabulary

A first-grade teacher wants to help her students understand the concept of jobs, which is part of her social studies curriculum. Over a period of time, the teacher engages students in exercises in which they work repeatedly with the meaning of the concept of jobs. The students have many opportunities to see and actively use the word in various contexts that reinforce its meaning.

The teacher begins by asking the students what they already know about jobs and by having them give examples of jobs their parents have. The class might have a discussion about the jobs of different people who work at the school.

The teacher then reads the class a simple book about jobs. The book introduces the idea that different jobs help people meet their needs, and that jobs either provide goods or services. The book does not use the words goods and services, rather it uses the verbs makes and helps.

The teacher then asks the students to make up sentences describing their parents' jobs by using the verbs makes and helps (e.g., "My mother is a doctor. She helps sick people get well.")

Next, the teacher asks students to brainstorm other jobs. Together, they decide whether the jobs are "making jobs" or "helping jobs." The job names are placed under the appropriate headings on a bulletin board. They might also suggest jobs that do not fit neatly into either category.

The teacher might then ask the students to share whether they think they would like to have a making or a helping job when they grow up.

The teacher next asks the students to talk with their parents about jobs. She tells them to try to bring to class two new examples of jobs – one making job and one helping job.

As the students come across different jobs throughout the year (for example, through reading books, on field trips, through classroom guests), they can add the jobs to the appropriate categories on the bulletin board.

Repeated exposure to words

A second-grade class is reading a biography of Benjamin Franklin. The biography discusses Franklin's important role as a scientist. The teacher wants to make sure that her students understand the meaning of the words science and scientist, both because the words are important to understanding the biography and because they are obviously very useful words to know in school and in everyday life.

At every opportunity, therefore, the teacher draws her students' attention to the words. She points out the words scientist and science in textbooks and reading selections, particularly in her science curriculum. She has students use the words in their own writing, especially during science instruction.

She also asks them to listen for and find in print the words as they are used outside of the classroom-in newspapers, magazines, at museums, in television shows or movies, or the Internet.

Then, as they read the biography, she discusses with students in what ways Benjamin Franklin was a scientist and what science meant in his time.

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Vocabulary: Instructional Guidelines and Classroom Examples

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A teacher plans to have his third-grade class read the novel Stone Fox, by John Reynolds Gardiner. In this novel, a young boy enters a dogsled race in hopes of winning prize money to pay the taxes on his grandfather's farm. The teacher knows that understanding the concept of taxes is important to understanding the novel's plot.

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Informal Assessments A to Z: A list of Ideas

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Informal Assessments A to Z: A list of Ideas

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How to Meet the Learning Styles of All Students  

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How to Meet the Learning Styles of All Students  

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Previously we've discussed what learning styles are, how they are different from multiple intelligences, and how to assess both. Remember, learning styles are how people learn successfully. There are three main types of learning styles - visual, auditory and kinesthetic. It's important to know how to recognise students' learning styles and know how to teach each type.

We've broken each learning style down into:

Characteristics - watch for these to see if your students are exhibiting these behaviours. These are clues to their learning style.

Teaching Strategies - how to adapt your presentations and training sessions to each learning style for maximum effect.

Learning Strategies - encourage your students to try these strategies when studying information or preparing for an assessment.

Visual Learners

Visual learners need to associate ideas, concepts, data and other information with images and techniques.

Characteristics

Observes rather than talking or acting

Not very distractible

Notices details

Memorizes by seeing graphics or pictures

Enjoys advance planning

Struggles with verbal instructions

Typically has good handwriting and is a good speller

Teaching Strategies

Seat your visual learners close to the front, where they can see the presenter clearly

Include meaningful visual aids to support your verbal instruction

Use colors to cue important information

Encourage note taking

Learning Strategies

Recopy notes while studying. This can be done several times if necessary.

Visualise the information or how to solve a problem

Look at the words, visualise the words in your mind, repeat them to yourself.

Auditory Learners

Auditory learning is a learning style in which a person learns through listening. Auditory learners need to hear what is being said in order to understand and may have difficulty with written instructions.

Characteristics

Talks to self

Easily distracted

Enjoys music, hums or sings often

Enjoys being read to or listening to audio books

Struggles with written instructions

Likes to talk

Teaching Strategies

Seat auditory learners away from distractions

Use good expression when speaking- don't be monotonous!

Have students repeat important information

Incorporate songs or catchy phrases into your presentation

Learning Strategies

Repeat facts or information aloud while studying

Explain or teach information to others

Brainstorm or study aloud with others

Say words inside your head to remember them

Kinesthetic Learners

Kinesthetic (also called Tactile) Learning is a learning style in which learning takes place by the student carrying out a physical activity, rather than listening to a lecture or watching a demonstration.

Characteristics

Frequently in motion- shaking legs, drumming fingers, etc.

Often touches people while talking

Enjoys solving problems by physically working through them

Will try new things, is very outgoing

Reading and spelling not a priority

Teaching Strategies

Seat them towards the back of the room so their motion does not distract others

Have frequent movement breaks

Incorporate role play into your instruction

Use models and real objects for visual aids and pass them around to the students

Learning Strategies

Take frequent breaks when studying to get up and move around

Pace back and forth while studying

Eliminate distracting objects from your desk

Draw information while learning it

How to Teach to All Three Learning Styles

Most likely you will have a good mix of all three learning styles in your class. It is highly encouraged to incorporate teaching methods that will benefit each type of learner. Instead of just orally presenting use role play, audience participation and even music to convey information. Give your students guided notes to fill in the blanks and use visuals in your slides. Have your students reteach the information to their neighbor or a small group of people. Not only will your training session be more interesting, your audience will probably learn better!

Tags: learning styles, training

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How to Teach to Different Learning Styles

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Previously we've discussed what learning styles are, how they are different from multiple intelligences, and how to assess both. Remember, learning styles are how people learn successfully. There are three main types of learning styles - visual, auditory and kinesthetic. It's important to know how to recognise students' learning styles and know how to teach each type.

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Musical Videos/ Activities  Based On Various Subjects for all Grades 

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Musical Videos/ Activities  Based On Various Subjects for all Grades 

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SDAIE Strategies (Specially Designed Academic Instruction for English)

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SDAIE Strategies (Specially Designed Academic Instruction for English)

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teaching strategies for english language learners

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teaching techniques for english language

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Teaching Strategies for English Language Learners

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Information and resources on effective teaching strategies for English Language Learners in K-12 settings.

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Useful LearningStrategies That May Assist Those Students Who Struggle With Their Learning, or Demonstrate Some Difficulty With Everyday Classroom Tasks (Special Needs)

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Useful LearningStrategies That May Assist Those Students Who Struggle With Their Learning, or Demonstrate Some Difficulty With Everyday Classroom Tasks (Special Needs)

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Classroom Discipline Tips to Reduce Student Misbehavior

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Classroom Discipline Tips to Reduce Student Misbehavior

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Benefits of creating Parent Relationships 

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Benefits of creating Parent Relationships 

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Edutopia | 32 Strategies for Building a Positive Learning

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Edutopia | 32 Strategies for Building a Positive Learning

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Instructional Activities Used to Engage Students With the Material and Enable Them to Meet the Objectives

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Instructional Activities Used to Engage Students With the Material and Enable Them to Meet the Objectives

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After selecting the learning objectives and assessments for the course, we need to think about the various instructional activities we will use to engage students with the material and enable them to meet the objectives. Of course, the key is to align instructional strategies with the other two components. Many instructional strategies are flexible, and can be used in service of several learning objectives, but some of them are better suited for a particular set of objectives. In most cases, we will need to use a combination of instructional strategies. This table focuses on two of three components of course design.

Recitations

Practice problem solving; review material; check student understanding; identify and correct misconceptions; individualize instruction; answer questions

This site supplements our 1-on-1 teaching consultations.
CONTACT US to talk with an Eberly colleague in person!

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Instructional Strategies - Eberly Center - Carnegie Mellon University

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After selecting the learning objectives and assessments for the course, we need to think about the various instructional activities we will use to engage students with the material and enable them to meet the objectives. Of course, the key is to align instructional strategies with the other two components.

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Edutopia | 19 Big and Small Classroom Management Strategies

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Edutopia | 19 Big and Small Classroom Management Strategies

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 25 Clever Classroom Tips For Elementary School Teachers

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 25 Clever Classroom Tips For Elementary School Teachers

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 Introduction: Teaching in Diverse, Standards-Based Classrooms

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 Introduction: Teaching in Diverse, Standards-Based Classrooms

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Types of Informal Classroom-Based Assessment

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Types of Informal Classroom-Based Assessment

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Benefits of Developing Clear Classroom Rules and Expectations

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Benefits of Developing Clear Classroom Rules and Expectations

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Higher Ed Stratergie To Promote Student Participation in The Classroom

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Higher Ed Stratergie To Promote Student Participation in The Classroom

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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Student engagement is another of those buzz phrases popular in higher education. As with many regularly used terms, everyone assumes we are talking about the same thing; but when asked for definitions, either we are hard pressed to come up one or what's offered is a decidedly different collection of definitions. Here's an article that includes clear definitions and, based on a creative synthesis of research, offers 10 ways to promote student engagement.

The authors propose definitions broad enough to include more specific descriptions. For example: engagement is "students' cognitive investment in, active participation in, and emotional commitment to their learning." (p. 168) Or, engagement is "students' involvement with activities and conditions likely to generate high-quality learning." (p. 168)

Based on this synthesis of research, student engagement can be promoted in the following ways:

1. Enhance students' self-belief - There is no agreement in the research literature as to what motivates learners to engage, but the dominant view is that students engage when they act as their own learning agents working to achieve goals meaningful to them. This means that what students believe about themselves as learners is very important. They must believe they can learn, including that they can overcome and learn from failure. Giving students some control over learning processes helps develop this confidence and commitment to learning.

2. Enable students to work autonomously, enjoy learning relationships with others, and feel they are competent to achieve their own objectives - "When institutions provide opportunities for students to learn both autonomously and with others, and to develop their sense of competence, students are more likely to be motivated, to engage and succeed." (p. 170) Not unrelated to the first recommendation, the focus here is on cultivating intrinsic motivation, which fosters the self-determination that leads to engagement.

3. Recognize that teaching and teachers are central to engagement - Much research places teachers at the heart of engagement. For example, one study found that "if the teacher is perceived to be approachable, well prepared, and sensitive to student needs, students are committed to work harder, get more out of the session, and are more willing to express their opinion." (p. 170)

4. Create learning that is active, collaborative, and fosters learning relationships - "Findings acknowledge that active learning in groups, peer relationships, and social skills are important in engaging learners." (p. 171)

5. Create educational experiences for students that are challenging and enriching and that extend their academic abilities - Easy learning activities and assignments are not as effective at engaging students as activities and assignments that challenge them. When students are reflecting, questioning, conjecturing, evaluating, and making connections between ideas, they are engaged. "Teachers need to create rich educational experiences that challenge students' ideas and stretch them as far as they can go." (p. 171)

6. Ensure that institutional cultures are welcoming to students from diverse backgrounds - To become engaged, students must feel they are accepted and affirmed. They must feel they belong at an institution.

7. Invest in a variety of support services - Sometimes it seems as though students don't take advantage of support services like learning and advising centers, but a wide variety of research findings confirms the importance of these support services. They are perceived as part of the institutional culture, and students engage when that culture values and supports their efforts to learn.

8. Adapt to changing student expectations - An institution should never be satisfied with how it is promoting student engagement. As students change and new research evidence emerges, institutional practices should be adjusted. Engagement cannot just be promoted, it must also be maintained.

9. Enable students to become active citizens - "What is needed is a democratic-critical conception of engagement that goes beyond strategies, techniques, behaviours, a conception in which engagement is participatory, dialogic and leads not only to academic achievement but to success as an active citizen." (p. 173)

10. Enable students to develop their social and cultural capital - This kind of capital derives from a sense of belonging, from active relationships with others, and from knowing how things work around the institution. It is especially essential for minority students who need to be successful not only in the classroom but beyond it as well.

Reference: Zepke, N., and Leach, L. (2010). Improving student engagement: Ten proposals for action. Active Learning in Higher Education, 11 (3), 167-177.

Excerpted from Ways to Achieve Student Engagement. The Teaching Professor, 25.6 (2011): 8.

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Student engagement is another of those buzz phrases popular in higher education. As with many regularly used terms, everyone assumes we are talking about the same thing; but when asked for definitions, either we are hard pressed to come up one or what's offered is a decidedly different collection of definitions.

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25 Easy Ways to Use Technology in the Classroom

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25 Easy Ways to Use Technology in the Classroom

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Site For Lesson plans , Instructional Videos, etc. 

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Site For Lesson plans , Instructional Videos, etc. 

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Since launching on March 6, 2007, our goal at TeacherTube has been to provide an online community for sharing instructional and education videos for college students, high school students, middle school students and elementary school students. We seek to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, students, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. It is also a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill.

On September 1, 2017, TeacherTube.com was acquired by Salem Web Network. Salem's goal is to continue the growth of TeacherTube and support innovative ideas for education.

Most importantly, TeacherTube community members are a major part of the evolution of the site. Members are encouraged to not only upload educationally relevant videos but also to make constructive comments and use the rating system to show appreciation for videos of value to one as an educator or learner. Users also have the ability to preserve the integrity of the site by flagging inappropriate videos. TeacherTube staff review flagged sites and will remove any inappropriate posts. With more collegial commentary and discussion through messaging and responses, the quality of this resource will only increase.

The service is free for everyone. We always encourage our users to Contact Us with thoughts, suggestions, or other feedback. We do have a vision for TeacherTube to truly be a better alternative to other video storage sites. With the community's help, it can become more interactive and engaging for all teachers and learners.

Science videos are one of the key subjects that students are taught in school. Science is present from the early years of grade school up to the highest levels of academic achievement. As students move up the ranks, their study of science tends to get more specialized into one specific field only, like chemistry, biology, or physics. We have educational videos for all of these courses.

TeacherTube.com's section on science educational videos has content of interest to all learning levels. We have topics as varied as educational songs for elementary school students, up to chemical engineering for college students.

Mathematics is one of the fundamental 3Rs of early education. Known as "arithmetic" in those levels, it involves counting and the basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. As kids advance through the grade levels, they progressively deal with more complex mathematical problems. Also, more new concepts get introduced as they progress.

Math is crucial for almost any business career. Accounting, budgeting, and projecting sales all require some level of competence in math. Many resources for these topics can be found here on TeacherTube.

Even everyday situations benefit a lot from math skills. Managing one's finances, for instance, obviously requires math, as with anything involving money. Cooking also involves math: proportions of ingredients, for example, as well as measurements.

TeacherTube.com's section on math education videos covers everything from fractions and measurements to money management. We also cover more complicated subjects such as trigonometry, and well as probability and statistics.

History is a very valuable subject, but not just because it is useful for preventing future wars. The lessons from history can also teach people to build a better future. What people have done right in the past should be continued and improved upon in the present.

The subject of history covers a wide range of timelines and locations. There's ancient history and modern history. There is also Asian history, US history, Latin American history, and European history. Each one is unique, reflecting the cultures of the people involved.

If there's one thing common to all history classes, it's usually names, dates, and places. This is also the part that many kids hate the most. They do not see the point of memorizing so many random facts that appear purposeless. Well, that is the wrong way to teach history.

TeacherTube's history education videos section makes the past come alive with a sterling array of videos and tutorials that cover subjects as varied as our prehistory, ancient history, the civil war, and the study of world civilizations.

The purpose of social studies, based on the US National Council for the Social Studies, is to promote "civic competence" among students. In other words, the subject equips students to become better citizens of a country. This is done by exploring history, geography, current events, and governments, among others. Middle school social studies usually deal with one of each of these fields per grade level.

With this knowledge, students gain the ability to become more socially aware and to be actively involved citizens of their country. Through analyzing current events, students will also learn how to predict the consequences of the things happening around them. With that, they can be good influences on their communities.

It is with this goal in mind that TeacherTube offers a wide variety of learning video materials for both students and enthusiasts.

We have videos on everything from strengthening your knowledge of economics terminology to the nuances of various world cultures.

Language arts, as the name suggests, equips students with a wide range of ways to use language. It comprises both speaking and writing skills. In addition to the basics, the subject also deals with the artistic side of language, infusing creativity in the ways students communicate.

There are four basic aspects to understanding a language: speaking, reading, listening, and writing. Language arts classes aim to enhance those skills at each year level. At first, it covers basic topics like grammar, sentence construction, and paragraphs. Exercises in language arts become progressively more complex as students move up the ranks, and usually, in higher grades, more emphasis is put on creativity and persuasiveness.

With the noble goal of harnessing the power of words to effect change in the world in mind, TeacherTube is proud to offer videos on everything from general communications to speaking and even videos on strengthening your studying skills.

Not all kids want to go through lectures. Some of them may not have the attention span or the patience to endure long hours just sitting down and listening to someone talk in front. No, that doesn't mean these kids are lazy. It just means they learn differently.

Some kids are auditory learners. In other words, they learn best when they listen to sounds and music. For this type of student, educational songs will certainly be a big helping hand. Even the most complex of concepts, when taught through songs, will be very easy for them to understand and remember. Even kids who are not so much inclined to auditory learning may like this method.

Educational song vidoes are available in a wide variety of subjects. English, math, social studies, science, and everything in between, there's bound to be a song for every subject. For example, on the website Teachertube.com, there are science topic songs, reading songs, skip counting songs, reading phonics songs, and even quadratic formula songs.

The advantage of using educational song videos is that it accomplishes two things at once. First, these songs are entertaining, and second, they also teach a concept. They facilitate learning a lot better than plain lectures simply because of the entertainment part. When a lesson is made fun of, kids will want to learn them. In fact, it could even be the kids themselves, on their own, who will play the songs repeatedly.

TeacherTube offers education songs on topics as varied as the circulatory system to math songs about polynomials and even videos on St. Patrick's Day.

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TeacherTube Educational Videos for the School Classroom and Home - Including Educational Songs, History Videos, Student Videos and Math Videos

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A free community for sharing instructional videos, Educational Songs, History Videos, Student Videos, Math Videos, and other content for teachers and students. We are an education focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home schoolers to access educational for the classroom and home learning.

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K-12 Reading Instruction Resources and Strategies 

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K-12 Reading Instruction Resources and Strategies 

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Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

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About this Worksheet:

Week 17 Reading Comprehension (B-17). A short passage and questions about writing instructions for your science fair project. Cross-Curricular Focus: Science Investigations. This worksheet is in line with Common Core Standards for 2nd and 3rd grade Key Ideas and Details, but may also be used for other grades. The passage's Lexile Level is 570.

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Step by Step Instructions | 2nd Grade Reading Comprehension Worksheets

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Week 17 Reading Comprehension (B-17). A short passage and questions about writing instructions for your science fair project. Cross-Curricular Focus: Science Investigations. This worksheet is in line with Common Core Standards for 2nd and 3rd grade Key Ideas and Details, but may also be used for other grades.

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Active Participation Instruction – 2nd grade

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Active Participation Instruction – 2nd grade

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Active Participation Instruction - 2nd grade

Grade Level: Second Grade

School: Roosevelt Elementary School

Location: Vancouver, Washington

Videographer: Dima Yaremenko

Elapsed Time: 6:12

Introduction: It is possible to have adopted an evidence-based core reading or intervention program and still not obtain the desired academic gains. The programs must be delivered in a matter that maintains student attention and engagement. In this video, Dr. Archer is teaching students how to respond during the lesson. Notice that she doesn't just tell students what she desires. She teaches the behaviors using the same instructional steps of modeling and guided practice used in teaching academic strategies.

Focus: As you watch this video,

1) Note the active participation procedures that are directly taught to the students.

2) Identify other good instructional practices.
Feedback: 1) Note the active participation procedures that are directly taught to the students. Choral (Group) Responses
Dr. Archer taught the students two specific response procedures: saying answers chorally and to a partner. The following practices were modeled and then practiced.

Use - Choral or group responses can be used when the answers are short and the wording of the answer is the same across learners.

Procedure - To signal a response, the teacher asked a question, raised her hands, gave "thinking time", and then lowered her hands, and said "everyone" to cue a response.
Partner Responses
Instruction - The teacher introduced the procedure, modeled the procedure, and then practiced until the students consistently responded.
Instruction on partners -
Use - Partner responses can be used when the answers are long and the wording differs across students.

a. The teacher assigned partners and gave the partners the numbers #1 and #2 to allow distribution of responses.

b. The teacher checked to be sure that students remembered their numbers.
2. Identify other good instructional practices. Management a. Anticipate and Remove
c. The teacher introduced a partner strategy (Look, Lean, and Whisper), modeled the strategy, and had students practice the strategy as you monitored and coached.

The teacher anticipated that the students might attend to the teachers sitting at the back of the room so she had the students turn and wave at the teacher and the cameraman.
Attention A number of factors supported student attention including:
-The teacher set clear expectations for each segment of the lesson.
-The teacher introduced behaviors for the lesson (Sit up. Look at me. Look smart.), modeled the desired behaviors, and provided practice on the behaviors.

c. Room arrangement
- Students were moved so that they would be facing the teacher the lesson.
- Students were moved so that they were sitting beside their partners.

a. a perky pace,

b. connection with students through use of smiles, names, eye contact, touch,

c. use of cues to gain attention ("Eyes on me".),

d. close proximity to the students,

e. monitoring,

f. and use of praise.

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Explicit Instructions | Effective and Efficient Teaching

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Grade Level: Second Grade School: Roosevelt Elementary School Location: Vancouver, Washington Videographer: Dima Yaremenko Elapsed Time: 6:12 Introduction: It is possible to have adopted an evidence-based core reading or intervention program and still not obtain the desired academic gains. The programs must be delivered in a matter that maintains student attention and engagement.

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Strategies For Developing Reading fluency 

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Strategies For Developing Reading fluency 

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Fluency: Instructional Guidelines and Student Activities

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After you model how to read the text, you must have the students reread it. By doing this, the students are engaging in repeated reading. Usually, having students read a text four times is sufficient to improve fluency. Remember, however, that instructional time is limited, and it is the actual time that students are actively engaged in reading that produces reading gains.

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7 Tips for Better Classroom Management | Edutopia

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7 Tips for Better Classroom Management | Edutopia

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Creating a Multicultural Classroom: Strategies

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 What Is Successful Technology Integration?

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 What Is Successful Technology Integration?

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Worksheets, Activities, and Tools for 5th Grade Reading Coprehension

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Worksheets, Activities, and Tools for 5th Grade Reading Coprehension

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Fun And Engaging Reading resources For Your Classroom

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Discover, Create, & Share Virtual Field rips 

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Discover, Create, & Share Virtual Field rips 

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Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

What inspires you? Get to know Alma Thomas, (b. Columbus, Georgia; lived and worked in Washington, DC, 1891-1978), an American artist and educator known for her signature painting style using bright colors and patterns inspired by nature. She became a full-time artist late in her life. Born in a time of horses and buggies, she lived through big advancements in technology, such as the space race and moon landing. Her art was inspired by the nature she saw outside her home studio, and awe for the exploration of our vast universe.
Get To Know Alma Thomas Use it in the classroom to teach:
is part of the Hirshhorn KIDS About the Artist series. About the Artist biographies are designed for kids under age 12. Modern and contemporary artists' lives reflect recent human history and events. Sharing these life stories and artworks can help kids see their own potential and better understand the world and their place in it. It is our goal to inspire future generations of artists, makers, and creative problem solvers-sharing artists stories is one way Hirshhorn KIDS realize this goal.
Art classroom: Color Theory, Pattern

Language Arts classroom: Biography

Social Studies classroom: 20th century

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National Museum of American History

In this playlist you will learn about how three of the first presidents shaped the executive branch of the United States government.

Start by clicking on the first tile in the upper left hand corner. Then move through the playlist by clicking on the ">" symbol at the bottom of the page. Look for the information and paperclip icons to provide more information about selected resources. There are 34 tiles in this collection.

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Cultivating Learning is a professional development series where Smithsonian educators model teaching techniques for using digital museum resources to support student learning. This year's series celebrates America at 250. Programs are free and accessible to anyone.

Wednesday, April 15, 4:00 PM EST

Join Phoebe Sherman of the National Postal Museum to explore how postage stamps can be used in the classroom to encourage civic awareness and engagement. We'll examine how stamps can spark curiosity and deepen understanding of civics, American history, national identity, and commemoration by using thinking routines that focus on both subject matter and artistic design. You'll see how these approaches come to life with students and leave with classroom-ready resources and fresh ideas for incorporating postage stamps into your teaching practice.

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As America turns 250 in 2026, young people are writing its next chapter. Join a group of educators who apply interdisciplinary approaches to learning to engage young people in civic dialogue tied to their communities.

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Smithsonian Learning Lab: Discover, Create, Share

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Smithsonian Learning Lab Discover the digital education platform that connects people to Smithsonian objects, resources, and stories. Explore some of our most popular Learning Lab Collections. Use them as a springboard to continue your exploration of the many collections available on the site. Talk with Me! Learn about your community and neighborhood.

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How to Create a Positive Classroom Environment

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How to Create a Positive Classroom Environment

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19 Activities for Reading Comprehension  

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19 Activities for Reading Comprehension  

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Instructional Resources: Instructional Activities (Search Results) - The Cognitive Foundations of Learning to Read: A Framework

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The essential cognitive elements of the reading process have been outlined in the cognitive framework of reading. To assist educators in organizing their practice around the cognitive framework, we've created a way to easily search for instructional activities that specifically address skills and knowledge outlined by the cognitive framework of reading.

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Tools and Strategies  To Understand and Help Students With Special Needs In The Classroom

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Tools and Strategies  To Understand and Help Students With Special Needs In The Classroom

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September 2010 | Links updated, February 2016
A legacy resource from NICHCY

For many students with disabilities-and for many without- the key to success in the classroom lies in having appropriate adaptations, accommodations, and modifications made to the instruction and other classroom activities.

Some adaptations are as simple as moving a distractible student to the front of the class or away from the pencil sharpener or the window. Other modifications may involve changing the way that material is presented or the way that students respond to show their learning.

Adaptations, accommodations, and modifications need to be individualized for students, based upon their needs and their personal learning styles and interests. It is not always obvious what adaptations, accommodations, or modifications would be beneficial for a particular student, or how changes to the curriculum, its presentation, the classroom setting, or student evaluation might be made. This page is intended to help teachers and others find information that can guide them in making appropriate changes in the classroom based on what their students need.

Part 1: A Quick Look at Terminology
Part 2: Different Types of Supports

Part 1: A Quick Look at Terminology

You might wonder if the terms supports, modifications, and adaptations all mean the same thing. The simple answer is: No, not completely, but yes, for the most part. (Don't you love a clear answer?) People tend to use the terms interchangeably, to be sure, and we will do so here, for ease of reading, but distinctions can be made between the terms.

Sometimes people get confused about what it means to have a modification and what it means to have an accommodation. Usually a modification means a change in what is being taught to or expected from the student. Making an assignment easier so the student is not doing the same level of work as other students is an example of a modification.

An accommodation is a change that helps a student overcome or work around the disability. Allowing a student who has trouble writing to give his answers orally is an example of an accommodation. This student is still expected to know the same material and answer the same questions as fully as the other students, but he doesn't have to write his answers to show that he knows the information.

What is most important to know about modifications and accommodations is that both are meant to help a child to learn.

Part 2: Different Types of Supports

Special Education

By definition, special education is "specially designed instruction" (§300.39). And IDEA defines that term as follows:

(3) Specially designed instruction means adapting, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible child under this part, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction-(i) To address the unique needs of the child that result from the child's disability; and(ii) To ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that the child can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public agency that apply to all children. [§300.39(b)(3)]

Thus, special education involves adapting the "content, methodology, or delivery of instruction." In fact, the special education field can take pride in the knowledge base and expertise it's developed in the past 30-plus years of individualizing instruction to meet the needs of students with disabilities. It's a pleasure to share some of that knowledge with you now.

Adapting Instruction

Sometimes a student may need to have changes made in class work or routines because of his or her disability. Modifications can be made to:

For example:

Jack is an 8th grade student who has learning disabilities in reading and writing. He is in a regular 8th grade class that is team-taught by a general education teacher and a special education teacher. Modifications and accommodations provided for Jack's daily school routine (and when he takes state or district-wide tests) include the following:

Jack will have shorter reading and writing assignments.

Jack's textbooks will be based upon the 8th grade curriculum but at his independent reading level (4th grade).

Jack will have test questions read/explained to him, when he asks.

Jack will give his answers to essay-type questions by speaking, rather than writing them down.

Modifications or accommodations are most often made in the following areas:

Scheduling. For example,

giving the student extra time to complete assignments or tests

breaking up testing over several days

working in a small group

working one-on-one with the teacher

providing audiotaped lectures or books

giving copies of teacher's lecture notes

using large print books, Braille, or books on CD (digital text)

Instruction. For example,

reducing the difficulty of assignments

reducing the reading level

using a student/peer tutor

Student Response. For example,

allowing answers to be given orally or dictated

using a word processor for written work

using sign language, a communication device, Braille, or native language if it is not English.

Because adapting the content, methodology, and/or delivery of instruction is an essential element in special education and an extremely valuable support for students, it's equally essential to know as much as possible about how instruction can be adapted to address the needs of an individual student with a disability. The special education teacher who serves on the IEP team can contribute his or her expertise in this area, which is the essence of special education.

Related Services

One look at IDEA's definition of related services at §300.34 and it's clear that these services are supportive in nature, although not in the same way that adapting the curriculum is. Related services support children's special education and are provided when necessary to help students benefit from special education. Thus, related services must be included in the treasure chest of accommodations and supports we're exploring. That definition begins:
§300.34 Related services.
(a) General. Related services means transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, and includes...

Here's the list of related services in the law.

speech-language pathology and audiology services

interpreting services

psychological services

physical and occupational therapy

recreation, including therapeutic recreation

early identification and assessment of disabilities in children

counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling

orientation and mobility services

medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes

school health services and school nurse services

social work services in schools

This is not an exhaustive list of possible related services. There are others (not named here or in the law) that states and schools routinely make available under the umbrella of related services. The IEP team decides which related services a child needs and specificies them in the child's IEP. Read all about it in our Related Services page.

Supplementary Aids and Services

One of the most powerful types of supports available to children with disabilities are the other kinds of supports or services (other than special education and related services) that a child needs to be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate. Some examples of these additional services and supports, called supplementary aids and service s in IDEA, are:

adapted equipment-such as a special seat or a cut-out cup for drinking;

assistive technology-such as a word processor, special software, or a communication system;

training for staff, student, and/or parents;

peer tutors;

a one-on-one aide;

adapted materials-such as books on tape, large print, or highlighted notes; and

collaboration/consultation among staff, parents, and/or other professionals.

The IEP team, which includes the parents, is the group that decides which supplementary aids and services a child needs to support his or her access to and participation in the school environment. The IEP team must really work together to make sure that a child gets the supplementary aids and services that he or she needs to be successful. Team members talk about the child's needs, the curriculum, and school routine, and openly explore all options to make sure the right supports for the specific child are included.

Much more can be said about these important supports and services. Visit our special article on Supplementary Aids and Services to find out more.

Program Modifications or Supports for School Staff

If the IEP team decides that a child needs a particular modification or accommodation, this information must be included in the IEP. Supports are also available for those who work with the child, to help them help that child be successful. Supports for school staff must also be written into the IEP. Some of these supports might include:

attending a conference or training related to the child's needs,

getting help from another staff member or administrative person,

having an aide in the classroom, or

getting special equipment or teaching materials.

The issue of modifications and supports for school staff, so that they can then support the child across the range of school settings and tasks, is also addressed in our article on Program Modifications for School Personnel.

Accommodations in Large Assessments

IDEA requires that students with disabilities take part in state or district-wide assessments. These are tests that are periodically given to all students to measure achievement. It is one way that schools determine how well and how much students are learning. IDEA now states that students with disabilities should have as much involvement in the general curriculum as possible. This means that, if a child is receiving instruction in the general curriculum, he or she could take the same standardized test that the school district or state gives to nondisabled children. Accordingly, a child's IEP must include all modifications or accommodations that the child needs so that he or she can participate in state or district-wide assessments.

The IEP team can decide that a particular test is not appropriate for a child. In this case, the IEP must include:

an explanation of why that test is not suitable for the child, and

how the child will be assessed instead (often called alternate assessment).

Ask your state and/or local school district for a copy of their guidelines on the types of accommodations, modifications, and alternate assessments available to students.

Even a child with many needs is to be involved with nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate. Just because a child has severe disabilities or needs modifications to the general curriculum does not mean that he or she may be removed from the general education class. If a child is removed from the general education class for any part of the school day, the IEP team must include in the IEP an explanation for the child's nonparticipation.

Because accommodations can be so vital to helping children with disabilities access the general curriculum, participate in school (including extracurricular and nonacademic activities), and be educated alongside their peers without disabilities, IDEA reinforces their use again and again, in its requirements, in its definitions, and in its principles. The wealth of experience that the special education field has gained over the years since IDEA was first passed by Congress is the very resource you'll want to tap for more information on what accommodations are appropriate for students, given their disability, and how to make those adaptations to support their learning.

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Supports, Modifications, and Accommodations for Students

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September 2010 | Links updated, February 2016 A legacy resource from NICHCY For many students with disabilities-and for many without- the key to success in the classroom lies in having appropriate adaptations, accommodations, and modifications made to the instruction and other classroom activities.

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IEP Direct How To: Evaluations & Assessments

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IEP Direct How To: Evaluations & Assessments

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Diverse Learning Styles For The Classroom (Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples. )

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Diverse Learning Styles For The Classroom (Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples. )

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Make math learning fun and effective with Prodigy Math Game. Free for students, parents and educators. Sign up today!

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Phonics and Word Study: Instructional Activities to Develop Phonics and Spelling Skills

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Phonics and Word Study: Instructional Activities to Develop Phonics and Spelling Skills

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Phonics and spelling are closely tied together. You can help your students solidify these concepts by teaching them in tandem rather than as two separate pieces of your language arts block. As students learn about phonics and spelling features in isolation, they need to also have opportunities to apply them to reading and writing tasks with teacher support. This section describes five instructional techniques:

Alphabet knowledge is a significant predictor of future reading success. Students at the earliest stages of reading require instruction in letter names and formation among other critical pieces of early literacy instruction (i.e., phonological awareness and phonics instruction, concept of word development using connected text, vocabulary and comprehension development through read alouds, writing opportunities to practice their developing knowledge of letters and sounds).

These activities can be as simple as tracking the alphabet while singing "The ABC Song". Students can use special pointers while tracking as a motivator. These pointers can be used to locate particular letters as you call them out. Children who are learning the alphabet need practice discriminating among letters and making connections between upper case letters and their lower case counterparts. Upper and lower case connections can initially be discussed through the child's name. You can have a student's name in all upper case letters and in all lower case letters for the student to match. Using names is extremely motivating. Once students can identify the letters in their first names, you can move on to their last names. Students can also learn the letters in the names of other children in their group or the letters of a family member. You should continue to teach letter recognition, naming, and formation until your children can accurately and rapidly identify all upper and lower case letters, as well as write them.

After children have learned several letters of the alphabet, they will begin learning the sounds that letters make in words. One way to help children distinguish among sounds is by sorting objects or pictures by initial sounds. The goal of sorting is to emphasize similarities and differences among target features to help students conceptualize the categories. Two to four categories are generally sufficient.

A picture sort is a categorization task in which pictures are sorted into categories of similarities and differences. Pictures may be sorted by sound and position (e.g., the /m/ sound at the beginning of mouse versus the / s/ sound at the beginning of sun). Picture sorts are cued by headers placed at the top of each category.

Once children know most letter-sound correspondences and are representing beginning and ending sounds in their spellings, they may begin to sort words as well as pictures. A word sort is a categorization task in which words are sorted into categories. Word sorting involves comparing and contrasting within and across categories. Words are sorted by sound, pattern, and position (e.g., the /ag/ sound at the end of bag that is spelled -ag). Word sorts are cued by headers placed at the top of each category.

Picture and word sorts can easily be done in group settings using pocket charts. First, explicitly introduce the sort by discussing headers and placing them in the pocket chart. The sound, pattern, and position of the target feature should be emphasized. Explicit talk should include declarative knowledge (i.e., the what), procedural knowledge (i.e., the how), and conditional knowledge (i.e., the when and why). When introducing the familiar rime ip, the teacher might say, "When you see the letters i-p, you know that these two letters together say /ip/ as in lip. So, when you see the word hip, you can take what you know h and ip and put them together to make hip."

After the sort is introduced to the group, children should have opportunities throughout the week to practice their own sorts, both with teacher guidance and independently. As children sort pictures and words, errors should not be corrected initially unless you feel that it is necessary. After the sort is completed, the students check their sorts, and you should address any errors by discussing why a decision to change the category for a particular picture or word was made. As each column is read, you should review the headers and what each word in the category has in common noting again the sound, pattern, and position. For example, after reading the words sat, hat, mat, pat, rat in the category -at as in cat, the teacher and children would discuss that each of these words ends with /at/ and has the spelling pattern -at at the end. After sorting the pictures mail, man, moon, mop, mitten in the category m- as in mouse, you should discuss that each of the pictures begins with the sound /m/ and the letter "m".

Picture and word sorts can be complemented with games. For example, a Bingo game is a perfect way to review and practice target features. The game board can be interspersed with pictures and letters for students learning initial sounds or pictures and words for students learning short vowel word families.

A writing sort often follows a word sort. Headers are placed on paper, and word cards are jumbled up. The words can either be seen by the students to assist them in writing their words in the appropriate columns, or they can be called out by a teacher or another student.

Writing sorts can be done with teacher support, in student pairs, or as independent work. Begin by picking a word from the word cards of the sort and modeling the steps described next. First, read the word aloud and determine the appropriate category thinking about the sound, pattern, and position. Think aloud by saying: "This is the word rap. Rap - cat OR rap -cap. Rap sounds like cap at the end. They both say /ap/, and they rhyme. So, I know that rap needs to go in the cap category because they both say /ap/ at the end. I can use what I know about cap to write the word rap. I know that the /ap/ at the end of cap is spelled a-p, so I can spell rap with a-p at the end. So, I should write r first since rap begins with the /r/ sound and then I should write a-p like in the word cap." After determining the appropriate category, model writing the word in the correct column as the students write the word in their own writing sorts. The students can use their word card to check their spelling of the word.

After modeling 2 to 3 words, have the students think through the process with your support. When they have written all of the words from their sort, they should read each column and verbalize what is the same about each category: sound, pattern, position. For example, after reading the words tap, rap, lap, map, nap in the category -ap as in cap, you would discuss that each of these words ends with /ap/ and has the spelling pattern -ap at the end.

The goal of manipulation is to segment and blend words at the level of the phoneme (e.g., /c/ /a/ /t/ - cat). If it is difficult in the beginning, then segment and blend at the level of the onset and rime (e.g., /c/ /at/ - cat). Elkonin-type boxes can be used to keep the rime together either for additional support or for emphasizing the rime. For example,

You should explicitly talk about the sounds in words emphasizing each sound. The number of sounds in words can be discussed. This discussion is especially beneficial when segmenting words with digraphs and blends. For example, when segmenting the word chip, you should note that chip has four letters but only three sounds. Words should be blended back together after segmentation. Elkonin boxes can be used here to further emphasize the digraph. For example,

You should begin the manipulation activity by saying the word aloud for the children. Verbalize each sound in the word while supporting the children in finding the letter tiles needed for each sound. Next, segment each sound in the word chorally with the students while pushing the corresponding letter tile. Blend the sounds together chorally to make the whole word. You should talk explicitly about how many sounds the word has and the corresponding letters for each sound. The word's connection to the target features of phonics/spelling instruction can also be explicitly discussed. For example, after pushing and saying chip, discuss the category ch- as in the word chin. Continue with the next word following the same procedure.

The goal of an analogy book is to emphasize the utility of using what you know to read and spell other words with similar parts. For example, if you know the -at rime as in cat, then you know how to read and spell hat, mat, sat, and pat. While doing analogy-based work, teachers should explicitly talk about the similarities of the words. The sound, pattern, and position of the target feature of phonics/spelling instruction should be emphasized. Students can review their analogy books and refer to them when reading or spelling unknown words.

You should begin by discussing the example word that you are using to set up your analogy work. For example, while working with the -at word family, you would discuss an example word ( cat) and the feature that you are targeting. The analogy book page provided in this section begins with the line: "If I know ______, then I know..."After writing the example word in the blank, direct the children to write words with the target feature that you provide for them. After the students write each word, discuss what the word has in common with the example word (e.g., the /at/ at the end of cat spelled with a-t). After the page is completed, have the children discuss again the similarities of each word (i.e., the sound, pattern, and position). The students can segment and blend words before or after they are written for additional practice.

The goal of a word hunt is for students to apply what they are learning in isolation by finding additional examples of target phonics features in connected text. Students return to texts they have previously read to hunt for words that follow the same target features examined during their teacher-directed lessons. These words are then recorded in the appropriate categories.

You should begin by previewing the text in order to identify pages with words that exemplify the target features or ensure that ample examples are found within the particular text. The texts used should be either at the students' independent level or a text that they have previously read. Model "hunting" for words by reading a sentence to the children (making sure that a word exemplifying the target features is involved) and directing the children to listen for a particular feature. After the children identify the word, explicitly talk about the word's category match. Read the word again and determine the appropriate category thinking about the sound, pattern, and position. Then write the word in the appropriate category allowing the students to refer to the word as necessary.

Continue with the same procedure sentence by sentence to provide support. As children become more comfortable with the procedure, you can proceed page by page as the students read and hunt on their own. Reviewing word hunts is a crucial step in this procedure. You should have the students read each column after they are finished and verbalize what is the same about each category: sound, pattern, position. For example, after reading the words make, shape, ate, take, game in the category a_e as in cake, you would discuss that each of these words ends include a long a sound and has the spelling pattern a_e.

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READING FIRST IN VIRGINIA | Professional Development - Instructional Activities to Develop Phonics and Spelling Skills

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Teacher professional development in reading connected with Reading First in Virginia. Information on teacher reading academies for kindergarten through third grade teachers. Reading academies provide training in phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, based on research-based principles of reading instruction. Site includes forums for teacher communication and feedback and an electronic resource library.

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How to Teach Lessons to English Learners (Tips For All Grades)

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How to Teach Lessons to English Learners (Tips For All Grades)

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(exerpt from chapter 24)

In 2003, 42 percent of American public school students were of racial or ethnic minorities, up 22 percent from 30 years before. Most of this increase in diversity was due to immigration from Latin America and Asia, and with this increase in ethnic diversity came a corresponding increase in linguistic diversity. For example, in 2002, nearly 42% of students in Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest district in the country, were classified as English language learners.
The Institute of Education Sciences of the United States Department of Education defines English language learners (ELL) as: "Individuals who (1) were not born in the United States or whose native language is a language other than English; or (2) come from environments where a language other than English is dominant; or (3) are American Indians and Alaskan Natives and who come from environments where a language other than English has had a significant impact on their level of English proficiency; and who, by reason thereof, have sufficient difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language, to deny such individuals the opportunity to learn successfully in classrooms where the language of instruction is English or to participate fully in our society." Today's science teachers must be prepared to teach students whose first language is not English. In this section we reference ELL strategies and activities that are found throughout this book.

The science classroom is often a frustrating place for English language learners. Science has a complex vocabulary that is difficult even for native English speakers to learn. Difficulty learning English should not be confused with an inability to think scientifically. Many of the strategies that are useful for English language learners are effective for differentiating instruction for other students as well. Use a variety of methods to see which work best with your teaching style and students.

24.7.1 - ELL: Listening

Speak slowly, distinctly, and write down key terms - Anyone who has learned a foreign language in class, then traveled to a country where the language is spoken, has noticed that it is difficult to understand natives because they seem to "talk too fast". What seems normal speed to a native speaker is extremely fast to a language learner or to a student with a hearing impairment. The addition of the complex terms and concepts of science can make learning even more difficult. Write down key terms so students can see them and connect them to the spoken word.

Closed Captioning - Most science videos are equipped with closed captioning. Turn on the closed captioning so students can see what narrators and actors are saying (16.5.4). This helps English language learners correlate written and spoken English, and helps them see spelling and sentence construction. Closed captioning is also invaluable for the hearing impaired.

24.7.2 - ELL: Visualization

Emphasize visual literacy - It is often said that math and music are universal languages -ones that can be read regardless of one's primary language. Although these claims are debatable, it is clear that an English-speaking student can read and understand an equation in a Swahili textbook, and a Greek musician can play a score drafted by a Japanese composer. Regardless of linguistic background, people around the world can interpret mathematical equations and musical scores. In addition, they can also interpret pictures, and with minimal linguistic skills, can interpret charts and graphs. Visual literacy, or the ability to evaluate, apply, or create conceptual visual representation, is relatively independent of language, and is therefore invaluable to learning science and English simultaneously. Vector diagrams (16.1), scientific diagrams (16.2), pictorial riddles (16.3), photographic analysis (16.4), movie analysis (16.5), and map development and analysis (21.1-21.7), are a few of the many activities that can be used to build visual literacy.

Graphic Organizers - Graphic organizers are a means of introducing and assessing concepts in a manner that encourages meaningful learning. Graphic organizers are diagrams or maps that show the relationship between new and existing concepts, thereby facilitating integration of new and familiar ideas. They require minimal language and are therefore helpful tools when teaching science to English language learners. Conceptual grids (9.1), Venn diagrams (9.2), flow charts (9.3), mind maps (9.4), and concept maps (9.5) are some of the more common graphic organizers.

Use charts, graphs and figures - Scatter and line graphs (20.4), column and bar charts (20.5), pie and area graphs (20.5), and high-low, combination and log plots (20.7) can communicate concepts with minimal use of spoken or written language. The layout of such visual aids should be clear and uncluttered.

Manual video control - Science videos often introduce a variety of new terms and concepts, most of which even native speakers never remember. Pause the video to discuss key concepts. Use the bookmark and video clip features to return to precise sequences for review (16.5.4). Use the step-frame, slow motion, and replay features to focus student attention on key concepts.

24.7.3 - ELL: Interpersonal strategies

Group projects & cooperative learning - Many of the activities in this book employ group work and cooperative learning. Such activities provide opportunities for students to exchange, write, and present ideas. Projects use a variety of skills that work together to increase understanding and retention.

Partner English learners with strong English speakers - The best way to learn something is to teach it. Partnering English learners with strong English speakers benefits both. It may be particularly beneficial to pair English learners with bilingual students who can translate laboratory and activity procedures. Develop your seating chart so English language learners are sitting near the front of class and adjacent to bilingual students who can assist them.

Think/Pair/Share - Students learn to speak English by speaking English, but it is often counterproductive to ask English language learners to read passages or give descriptions to the entire class. Students are often embarrassed by their minimal science knowledge and English skills, and public exposure may make them more uncomfortable and reserved. By contrast, English language learners are often eager to share their ideas in their new language with their peers. The think/pair/share strategy gives all students the opportunity to practice English by explaining science concepts. Provide students with time to write a response to a thought provoking question, then additional time to discuss it with their neighbor before sharing their conclusion with the class. The think/pair/share technique increases student participation and involvement, and is a particularly effective way of encouraging English language learners to express science concepts in English.

Encourage participation- Many English learners come from countries in which student participation is not encouraged. They may be reluctant to speak, not only because of their lack of proficiency in English, but also because of they are uncomfortable in an environment where they are asked to share their ideas. A positive and supportive environment has a significant influence on student comfort level, participation, and success. Requiring English language learners to speak in front of class may be counter-productive and cause great anxiety. Encourage them to express themselves, but don't force them onto the stage prematurely.

24.7.4 - ELL: Structure

Consistent routines - English learners are freer to concentrate on new concepts if they are familiar with classroom routines.

Road map to science - English language learners benefit greatly from a "road map" that shows where they are in the science curriculum. Use organizational structures when teaching earth and space science (8.2), biology (8.3), chemistry (8.4), or physics (8.5) to English language learners.

Outlines - Provide students with a copy of your lecture/discussion outline. This will help ELL students know where you are, and where you are going with your lesson.

Relate to prior knowledge - Make use of student background knowledge of science concepts. Discover what your students already know about a given topic and build upon this knowledge.

24.7.5 - ELL: Laboratory

Hand-on activities - Kinesthetic learning events provide an excellent learning environment for English language learners. Hands-On Chemistry Activities with Real-Life Applications, and Hands-On Physics Activities with Real-Life Applications by Norman Herr and James Cunningham provide numerous hands-on activities of benefit for English language learners.

24.7.6 - ELL: Demonstrations

Clear, procedural steps - The science laboratory can be a confusing and potentially dangerous setting for English language learners. Present procedures clearly using flow charts, pictures, and outlines.

Model laboratory activities - Demonstrate activities in front of class to ensure that English language learners can see the procedures before engaging in an activity.

Pictorial guide - Provide a visual reference to glassware and other materials used in experiments and activities. Review safety symbols and post them in the room and in the lab handout.

24.7.7 - ELL: Reading and Writing

Journaling - Students become better writers by writing. Require English language learners to keep science journals (3.2.1) in which they write lecture notes, new terms, and responses to prompts.

Science reading comprehension activities - Cloze (2.1) and jigsaw (2.2) are two techniques for developing and assessing reading comprehension, and can be used when making formative assessments of language and science learning.

24.7. 8 - ELL: Instruction

Wait time - Teachers are often uncomfortable with silence and either call on the first student to raise their hand, or answer questions themselves, thereby short-circuiting the thought processes of most students, particularly English language learners who are trying to translate terms while formulating an explanation. Let students know that you expect all to be mentally engaged, and for this reason you provide wait-time sufficient for the majority to develop an answer before calling on any individual.

Analogies - Use analogies to relate new concepts to previously learned concepts (10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5).

24.7.9 - ELL: Vocabulary

Language-based science games - Reinforce vocabulary with Science Bingo (13.3), and concepts with Science Pictionary (13.4). These games require minimal spoken language and provide an excellent review of science vocabulary.

Picture glossary - One of the best ways to learn the vocabulary of a new language is with pictorial flash cards. A picture of the concept is on one side while the term (in the language to be learned) is on the reverse. The student learns to correlate concepts directly with words, eliminating the need for translation.

Common lexicon - People construct understanding by integrating new ideas with pre-existing knowledge. Ask students what they already know, then develop a common classroom vocabulary that can be used to develop new understandings.

Root words - A knowledge of Greek and Latin prefixes, suffixes, and roots can greatly enhance student understanding of scientific terms and facilitate a better understanding of English and other European languages. Approximately 50% of all words in English have Latin roots, many of which are shared with Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian. Learning scientific root words thereby helps one understand the vocabulary of a variety of languages, particularly English (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4).

Cognates - Many science terms are used internationally. Identify such terms (2.3, 2.4) and ask your students to notify you whenever they recognize a new term that is pronounced or written similarly in their first language. This helps build your knowledge of cognates (words that are similar in two or more languages) so you can help future learners master science vocabulary.

Mathematics translation - English language learners find word problems much more challenging than symbolic math problems. The English language is exceedingly complex, with numerous nuances that must be learned. Students need to be able to translate common words to math symbols (14.1), natural language to algebraic expressions (14.2), and algebraic expressions to natural language (14.3). The activities in this book help students develop such skills.

Word wall - Post new vocabulary terms on the wall in an organized, grouped manner. For example, you may wish to post new biology terms in columns according to the level of organization (cell, tissue, organ, etc.) (8.3).

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Strategies for English Language Learners

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(exerpt from chapter 24) In 2003, 42 percent of American public school students were of racial or ethnic minorities, up 22 percent from 30 years before. Most of this increase in diversity was due to immigration from Latin America and Asia, and with this increase in ethnic diversity came a corresponding increase in linguistic diversity.

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List of Engagement Activities for Students

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List of Engagement Activities for Students

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Research shows that students whose teachers spend too much time talking are less likely to be engaged during classroom instruction. Luckily, reading instruction can be so much more than lecture, reading practice, memorization, or decoding drills. We, as teachers, can do more to get our students engaged in learning to read.

List of Reading Activities

Here is a list of fourteen student engagement strategies from a webinar presented by Reading Horizons Chief Education Officer, Stacy Hurst, that you can use to increase student engagement during reading instruction or reading intervention:

1. Partner Pretest

Before teaching a new decoding skill or grammar rule, preface the lesson with a pretest. Let your students know that you will not score the test, lowering anxiety and increasing student performance. Pair students up for the pretest and have them use the same set of materials. If the pretest is on a computer or iPad, have students share the device between the two of them. During the pretest, walk around the room to gauge student needs and adjust the lesson accordingly. When lesson material matches student ability and understanding, engagement is higher. Make sure that the pretest is similar to the posttest so you can see how much your students retain during your lesson.

2. Stand Up/Sit Down

You can use this activity to help students learn to differentiate between similar but different reading concepts. For instance, when you're trying to help your students understand the difference between common nouns and proper nouns, you can give examples of each and have students stand up if it is a common noun or sit down if it is a proper noun. This is a great way to see how much of your class is grasping the material while getting their blood flowing-helping them stay alert.

3. Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down

This activity provides a quick way to gauge if your students are comprehending a story or to test them on different reading skills. Instruct students to put their thumbs up if they agree with a statement or to put their thumbs down if they disagree. When students have a low energy level (i.e. right after lunch) Stand Up/Sit Down may be a better alternative. However, if you need to maintain your students' current energy level Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down is ideal.

4. Secret Answer

This activity is great for students that might not be confident in their answers-students that look around the class when doing Stand Up/Sit Down or Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down to see how the other students' answer before they answer themselves. To give students a secret way to answer, assign different responses a number and have students hold up the number of fingers that correspond to the answer they think is correct. To do this exercise properly, have your students place their hand near their heart (physically) with the appropriate number of fingers raised to indicate their answer. This way, especially if all the students are facing the teacher, it is difficult for students to copy their neighbor's answer.

5. Response Cards

This is a great way to mix things up a bit. Have students create a stack of typical responses, including agree/disagree, true/false, yes/no, greater than/less than, multiple-choice options, and everyday emotions. After students have created their response cards, you can have them use them to respond in various settings. For example, while reading a book together as a class, you may pause and ask your students what they think the character is feeling right now. The students then select one of the everyday emotion cards from their personal stack of cards and lift it up to answer the question.

6. Think-Pair-Share

This activity allows students to pause and process what they have just learned. After reading a passage in a book, ask your class a question that they must first consider by themselves. After giving them time to think, have them discuss the question with their neighbor. Once they've discussed the question, invite students to share their answers with the class. By giving them this time to process, you enable them to be more engaged in their learning.

7. Quick Writes

Studies show that the proper ratio of direct instruction to reflection time for students is ten to two. That means that teachers need to provide students with two minutes of reflection for every ten minutes of instruction. This activity is a great way to give students that much-needed reflection time! In this activity, ask a question about a reading passage and have students write a response to share with a neighbor or the entire class.

8. One Word Splash

After reading a passage or learning new vocabulary terms, ask your students to write down one word that they feel sums up that material. This might seem overly simplistic, but it requires higher processing skills to help your students digest what they are reading. Students can do this with pencil/paper or a dry erase marker/personal whiteboard.

9. Quick Draw

This activity is perfect for visual learners or students who aren't entirely writing yet. After reading a part of a story or learning a new concept or topic, have your students draw a picture about what they've just read or understood. For example, after reading part of the story Jack and the Beanstalk, have your students draw what has happened in the story up to that point. A student may draw a picture of a boy planting seeds with a beanstalk growing in the background.

10. Gallery Walk

To help students get some of their energy out, have them do a Gallery Walk to see their peers' work. This activity is an excellent add-on to Quick Writes and Quick Draw. Because students seek approval from their peers, they will put more effort into their work when they know the class will view it.

11. A-Z Topic Summary
Help students connect the dots after finishing a book, a learning module, or a lesson. Have your students complete an A-Z Topic Summary either as individuals or in pairs. If it is an individual activity, have students write either a word or a sentence that connects to the book, module, or lesson for each letter of the alphabet. For example, if you learned about baking, they might write a sentence for the letter A such as: "Always preheat the oven before baking." To speed up the activity, you can assign students to work in pairs or assign a letter to each student or team and have them write a sentence for that letter rather than the whole alphabet.
12. 3-2-1
This is a quick way to help students process reading or lesson material when you're pressed for time. First, have your students write three facts they learned from something they read or learned in class that day. Next, have students write two questions about the book or topic that wasn't covered or discussed in class. Finally, have your students write one opinion they have about the reading material or lesson. This activity can also help you plan for the next lesson on the topic or book.
13. Find Your Match
This is another activity that gets your students up and moving. Create card matches that correlate to a storyline in a book, vocabulary terms, figures of speech, grammar rules, etc. For example, your card matches might include the following concepts (depending on grade level): rhyming words, uppercase/lowercase, antonyms/synonyms, words/definitions, problem/solution, and words/pictures. Hand out one card to each student in the class and then get up and find the other student with the matching card.
14. Dictation
One of our favorite teaching activities is Dictation! It is highly effective in engaging students because it is multisensory explicit phonics instruction involving: auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and tactile senses. Having a multisensory approach increases working memory and integrates all language skills/modalities. To do Dictation, have students listen to a word, repeat the word out loud, write it out on paper, and then have them read the word out loud again. View an example of Dictation in action here . Have you tried any of these activities in your classroom? If so, leave a comment and let us know which ones are your favorites and why.

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14 Activities That Increase Student Engagement During Reading Instruction

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Research shows that students whose teachers spend too much time talking are less likely to be engaged during classroom instruction. The good news is that there are many activities that will enable you to spend less time talking and more time getting your students engaged during reading instruction.

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 Edutopia | SMART Goal Setting With Your Students

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 Edutopia | SMART Goal Setting With Your Students

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Examples of Interactive Classroom Activities

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Examples of Interactive Classroom Activities

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Standardized and Alternative Assessments and Examples 

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Standardized and Alternative Assessments and Examples 

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Student Engagement in Learning Activities

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Student Engagement in Learning Activities

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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How to Create A Positive Relationship With Your Students Parents 

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How to Create A Positive Relationship With Your Students Parents 

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20 Tips for Developing Positive Relationships With Parents

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Blogger Elena Aguilar shares 20 tips to help teachers better connect with parents.

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Defines Summative Assessment and Lists Several Examples and Common Formats.

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Defines Summative Assessment and Lists Several Examples and Common Formats.

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LEARN NC was a program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education from 1997 - 2013. It provided lesson plans, professional development, and innovative web resources to support teachers, build community, and improve K-12 education in North Carolina.

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How to Create A Safe and Comfortable Class Environment 

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How to Create A Safe and Comfortable Class Environment 

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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What You Need To Create Good Classroom Management 

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What You Need To Create Good Classroom Management 

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EFFECTIVE LESSON PLANNING, DELIVERY TECHNIQUES

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It is also important to realize that the best planned lesson is worthless if interesting delivery procedures, along with good classroom management techniques, are not in evidence.There is a large body of research available pertaining to lesson development and delivery and the significance of classroom management.They are skills that must be researched, structured to your individual style, implemented in a teacher/learning situation, and constantly evaluated and revamped when necessary.Consistency is of the utmost importance in the implementation of a classroom management plan.

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Tips for using formative assessments to help you differentiate instruction and improve student achievement (Grades 3-8)

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Tips for using formative assessments to help you differentiate instruction and improve student achievement (Grades 3-8)

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If you are already registered on our website, you can sign in by selecting your partner organization below, then entering your email address and password on the next screen.

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How to Build a Strong Relationship and Communication With Your Students 

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How to Build a Strong Relationship and Communication With Your Students 

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Access Google Sites with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

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What Tools You Need To   Create An Effective Lesson Plan 

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What Tools You Need To   Create An Effective Lesson Plan 

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What does a great lesson plan look like from an outsider's point of view?

If you were to design a perfect lesson plan, what characteristics do you think it would contain?

Oftentimes, teachers think they are creating an amazing lesson plan until it falls short, and they find out it wasn't that amazing after all.

Sometimes you may even surprise yourself and find that the quickie lesson that you put together in a matter of minutes was the one that really hit home with your students. But what exactly did you do that really spoke to your students? More concisely, what teaching strategies did you use that made that lesson plan effective?

Here are five basic teaching strategies to deliver an effective lesson plan. These characteristics can be used in any grade.

Having an objective for your lesson isn't just important for you to know why you are teaching the lesson, but it's important for the students to know why they need to learn what you are teaching them. As you are planning for your lesson, think about what you need your students to know, and what are they going to take away from your lesson. After you have figured this out, then you need to explain your objective to the students so they know why they need to learn what you are about to teach them. Try to offer real-word examples if you can.

2. Model Your Expectations

Before you begin your lesson, make sure that you teach and model your expectations for the lesson. For example, if you were teaching a science experiment, the first thing that you would do is show the students how to properly use the materials. You would also tell them the consequences of what would happen if they do not handle the materials properly.

3. Actively Engage Students

Children learn by doing, not just by hearing. Get your students engaged in the lesson by having them partake in hands-on activities. Use cooperative learning techniques, or technology like an iPad or a whiteboard to enhance your lesson. Keep their minds and hands moving and you'll see that it will help you reach your lessons objective.

4. Be Mobile

While students are busy applying the skills that you have taught them you need to be mobile and move around the classroom to make sure all students are keeping on track with what they are supposed to be doing. Take this time to answer any questions, give the children who may be off a task a gentle reminder, and scan the classroom to make sure all is going as planned. As you move about the classroom, ask students critical thinking questions to strengthen their comprehension skills. Use how and why questions to make sure that you are meeting your objective.

5. Compliment Positive Behavior and Hard Work

When you see a student paying attention, working hard, and doing what they are supposed to be doing to meet your goal, compliment them. Make sure that all students see you doing this, so they will understand why you are pleased and in turn try to meet your objective for the lesson in a positive way as well.

Once your lesson's objective has been met, take a moment to reflect upon what had worked and what did not in your lesson. Look for any patterns that may have come up, or try to find what you were lacking in a particular area. Once you are armed with this knowledge of self-reflection, you can take that information and do something with it. Talk to your colleagues, or go to an online teaching blog and talk about what you discovered and get others' input. You will find this self-reflection to be extremely valuable in developing your skills as an educator. This deep understanding will only help your lessons become more effective.
What elements do you think need to be in a lesson in order for it to be an effective one? Do you know what specific characteristics make for a great lesson? Please share your thoughts with us in the comment section below, we would love to hear your ideas. Janelle Cox is an education writer who uses her experience and knowledge to provide creative and original writing in the field of education. Janelle holds a Master's of Science in Education from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. She is also the Elementary Education Expert for About.com, as well as a contributing writer to TeachHUB.com and TeachHUB Magazine. You can follow her at Twitter @Empoweringk6ed, or on Facebook at Empowering K6 Educators.

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5 Essential Teaching Strategies to Deliver an Effective Lesson

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What does a great lesson plan look like from an outsider's point of view? If you were to design a perfect lesson plan, what characteristics do you think it would contain? Oftentimes, teachers think they are creating an amazing lesson plan until it falls short, and they find out it wasn't that amazing after all.

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List of Instructional Strategies for all Subjects 

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List of Instructional Strategies for all Subjects 

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Complete List of Instructional Strategies

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Concrete-Representational-Abstract Sequence of Instruction Continuous Monitoring/Charting of Student Performance Dynamic Assessment for Mathematics Explicit Teacher Modeling Instructional Games Planned Discovery Activities Self-Correcting Materials Scaffolding Instruction Structured Cooperative Learning Groups Structured Language Experiences Structured Peer Tutoring Teach Concepts/Skills Within Authentic Context Teach Using Big Math Ideas Teaching Metacognitive Strategies

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Social Studies, Math, & English Language Arts Based Off Common Core

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Social Studies, Math, & English Language Arts Based Off Common Core

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We provide targeted solutions for use in every area of the literacy block, featuring a wide range of authentic text and research-based instruction. Our wide variety of programs can be used in conjunction with existing materials or together as an integrated literacy framework.

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IXL Language Arts | Topics for pre-K to 12th grade

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See all of the language arts topics available on IXL! From phonics to grammar, reading to writing, there's always something new to learn.

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Instructional Content Activities For Vocabulary 

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Instructional Content Activities For Vocabulary 

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Vocabulary research paper and four practice exercises for teachers, coaches, and school leaders to use in PD or self-teaching on vocabulary instruction with the Common Core. Practice selecting words for instruction using these exercises. Each exercise uses an exemplar text from Appendix B of the Common Core State Standards and includes an annotated answer key. Includes:

Explanation of the central role of vocabulary in the CCSS

Synthesis of a vast body of vocabulary research

Advice on applying findings in the classroom

Exercises to practice selecting words to teach

Informational and literary texts

Examples by grade band, 4-12

All content linked to within this resource was free for use when this resource was published in January 2018. Over time, the organizations that manage that external content may move or remove it or change the permissions. If the content is no longer available, please email info@studentsachieve.net

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Vocabulary research paper and four practice exercises for teachers, coaches, and school leaders to use in PD or self-teaching on vocabulary instruction with the Common Core. Practice selecting words for instruction using these exercises. Each exercise uses an exemplar text from Appendix B of the Common Core State Standards and includes an annotated answer key.

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Instructional Methods and Learning Styles 

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Instructional Methods and Learning Styles 

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Common Core Activities - Instructional Strategies

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Examples of Formative and Summative assessments and how they Can Be Used In The Classroom

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Examples of Formative and Summative assessments and how they Can Be Used In The Classroom

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Formative vs Summative Assessment - Enhancing Education - Carnegie Mellon University

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The goal of formative assessment is to gather feedback that can be used by the instructor and the students to guide improvements in the ongoing teaching and learning context. These are low stakes assessments for students and instructors.

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Common Core Strategies For Creating  Detailed Lesson Plans 

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Common Core Strategies For Creating  Detailed Lesson Plans 

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Planning a unit of instruction demands skill and mental exertion-a fact that is not apparent to parents and legislators who believe that the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) tell instructors how and what to teach. Despite advocacy groups ' arguments to the contrary, the CCSS is, for the most part, a destination, not a roadmap.

To illustrate, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.10 states, "By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range."

Note that the standard does not explicate what or how specific comprehension strategies should be taught. Thus the responsibility for operationalizing standards, day in and day out, falls on the teacher, who carefully plans the scope (breadth and depth of content) and sequence (the order in which content is learned), and is able to execute instruction in a way that capitalizes on what TeachThought calls instructional fundamentals.

Even educators who deeply understand the new standards for their content area and grade band may struggle to leverage their CCSS-knowledge into an effective unit plan. Alas, those lessons that fall flat from unsound unit architecture make for long class periods for instructors and students. So how do you plan a successful unit, one that does not feel like the first float in a failure parade?

Curriculum Units: 2 Organic Planning Approaches

Before exploring how to develop unit plans with the CCSS in mind, I should note that instructional units are the ubiquitous framework of extended curriculum because they organize a variety of experiences, texts, skills, knowledge and assessments, thus allowing students to meaningfully master a repertoire of competences. A high school English teacher, for example, might allocate six weeks to a poetry unit in which a whole range of learning activities-from vocabulary to research skills-would be covered in the context of studying poetry.

Bypassing the role of curriculum mapping for now, there are two organic methods of planning. Some teachers start by reading the CCSS and identifying the specific objectives they want to accomplish, followed by a rigorous search for learning experiences and materials that meet those objectives. Others collect ideas, rich materials, lesson plans and activities, based on their intuition about how students within a developmental range learn through and about a particular discipline; next they look at the CCSS to assign standards and objectives to the newly acquired content. Either approach will get you to Rome, but attempting both simultaneously burns time and energy.

Accumulating Unit Resources

Searching for content on the web will quickly turn up too many resources to fit into the unit. So that you don't accumulate chaff, ask:

Will the content help students develop skills and knowledge that will serve them two weeks from now?

Will it engage learners?

Is it a key component in CCSS?

I would caution against the wholesale rejection of instructional ideas that do not perfectly align with the CCSS. To illustrate, none of the ELA CCSS standards mention empathy, though learning to empathize with diverse characters is important for literature study and the future of our planet. Teacher educator Shawn Vecellio summarizes how to think about guidelines and curriculum choices, writing that an instructor should examine "all the standards of her discipline to see how they figure into problems and processes of the world, then teach those in rich, robust, and realistic ways. In her aim to have students hit the target, she knows that they need not focus solely on the bull's-eye."

Which Unit Configuration Should You Use?

As you collect ideas, it will be helpful to think through how the content might be sequenced. As long as your district does not make teachers adhere to a pacing guide, there is no best curriculum order, despite what that emphatic instructor down the corridor says. Michael Stephen Schiro has identified several possible configurations:

Simple to complex

Easy to diﬃculty

Prerequisite learning

Whole to parts or parts to whole

Chronological

Developmental

Close at hand to far away

Known to unknown

We know that skill and knowledge acquisition are inextricably bound with an ever-changing learning context. Therefore, how you order a unit should not be based on rigid or packaged curriculum, such as textbooks, test-preparation workbooks or scripted programs. Those "scientifically" sequenced products are not supported by contemporary models of learning, and will ultimately lead to the same grim outcomes as units that tour one disconnected standard after another or that meander through a patchy collection of fun activities. Therefore, trust your understanding of the learning context and customize the unit accordingly.

A clear unit vision will enable more effective organization of lessons, and can be achieved by asking these questions:

1. What one question or problem focuses the unit?

2. How do unit activities meet professional standards?

3. What end product or performance will students find motivating?

4. What would it look like if all my students were wildly successful at mastering the unit goals?

Ultimately, a unit plan should be passionate, not mechanical; critiqued, not received; personal, not clinical; not art or science, but art and science-never perfected, because curriculum is you, and you are always learning how to better meet the needs of students.

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Common Core and Planning: Organizing a Unit of Instruction

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Planning a unit of instruction demands skill and mental exertion-a fact that is not apparent to parents and legislators who believe that the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) tell instructors how and what to teach. Despite advocacy groups ' arguments to the contrary, the CCSS is, for the most part, a destination, not a roadmap.

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Things We should know about our English Learners in Order to Help Them 

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Things We should know about our English Learners in Order to Help Them 

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Resources >> Browse Articles >> ESL (English as a Second Language)

Diversity is growing within the US and its schools. Some states such as California, Texas, New York, and Arizona have large numbers of Limited English Proficient (LEP) or English Language Learner (ELL) students matriculating each year. Many of these students were born in the US, but are nevertheless learning English as a second language.

ELL student drop-out rates are particularly high. The availability of bilingual and English as a Second Language programs varies from school to school. The No Child Left Behind Act has recently increased teacher's accountability for ELL student achievement. Although there is no ELL group that is representative of all sub-groups, there are tips that can help you provide the best possible educational program for your ELL students.

What Can A Teacher Do?

The best possible approach is to learn as much as possible about your student's culture and personal history. Here are some areas of inquiry to explore:

Culture

* What do I know about the culture and customs of my student? How might that affect the way they view school, their studies, and authority figures?

* What are the holidays they celebrate? What is the etiquette of the student-teacher dynamic in their culture?

Academics

* What is the education system like in my student's home country?

* Have they been in school consistently? Have they moved a lot?

* What are their current skills? Are they literate in their own language?

Social/Emotional

* Has my student had a stressful or traumatic past? Are they a refugee?

* Have they just moved and are they in the middle of an adjustment process?

* Are there any emotional or social concerns?

* Do they know the rules and expectations of the class?

Family

* Is my student's family accustomed to participating in the schooling of their children? Can family help with homework or will this student need more support?

* Is there a way I can reach out to get to know this family?

The Process of Learning English as a Second Language

Learning a second language occurs through a developmental trajectory. (1) The ELL student need to acquire basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) before they can move on to (2) the stage of learning higher order cognitive academic language proficiency skills (CALPS) needed for general education language arts classes. Proficiency in academic skills in the student's first language will transfer into academic skills in the second language.

Classroom Strategies for ELL Students

* Set high expectations for your student.

* Ask them how to pronounce their name correctly.

* Teach key words first (e.g., pencil, bathroom, food).

* Teach the rules and expectations of the school.

* Give clear directions and avoid slang.

* Align curriculum and instruction to the student's current language proficiency level.

* Reduce the linguistic demands but maintain conceptual demands for lessons.

* Provide instructional support in their native language if you are able to.

* Try to pair them with a bilingual buddy that can help translate.

* Use visual cues and gestures with your verbal instructions.

* Check for understanding of directions.

* Use technology (CDs, computers) to enhance language learning.

* Create opportunities for communication through group work.

* Allow student to share their cultural heritage with the class.

* Support their participation in extracurricular activities and help foster their talents.

Enjoy your ELL students and all they bring to your class!

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: help english language learners esl (english as a second language) benefits articles

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How To: Help Your English Language Learners

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Diversity is growing within the US and its schools. Some states such as California, Texas, New York, and Arizona have large numbers of Limited English Proficient (LEP) or English Language Learner (ELL) students matriculating each year. Many of these students were born in the US, but are nevertheless learning English as a second language.

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How to Make English Learners Feel Comfortable and Welcomed In the Classroom

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How to Make English Learners Feel Comfortable and Welcomed In the Classroom

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Question:

The number of students speaking English as a second language (ESL) is steadily increasing. These children come to the classroom with diverse cultural backgrounds and varying degrees of proficiency with English. We asked several educators, "What are your ideas for helping second language learners feel welcomed and supported in the classroom, especially during the early weeks of the year?

A: In addition to meeting the educational needs of second language learners, many teachers struggle to understand cultural differences, communicate with families, and help students and their families feel welcomed in school. Below are some general guidelines to help classroom teachers meet these challenges.

Learn about the values, traditions, and customs of the cultural groups represented in the classroom. Many cultural community groups have speakers who will make presentations to teachers. Also, there is a lot of information available on the Internet. If possible, do home visits to learn more about a child and his/her culture.

Be aware of potential self-image problems in students who begin to reject their own ethnicity in the process of adopting American values.

Promote classroom and school activities that celebrate cultural diversity.

Avoid making assumptions about what children already know, particularly related to cultural values and activities (for example, not all children may have had a birthday party).

Take advantage of any training offered in your district on language acquisition, cultural diversity issues, and differentiated learning.

When talking with second language learners, use the following guidelines:

1. Simplify the input: speak slowly, enunciate clearly, and limit the use of more complex words or slang.

2. Check for understanding: offer clarification and ask for confirmation of understanding.

3. Use contextual cues: props, gestures, visuals, etc.

Recommended Reading: Cultural Differences and Social Skills Instruction: Understanding Ethnic and Gender Differences, Gwendolyn Catledge and Joanne Fellows Milburn, 1996.

Melissa Correa-Connolly is an academic counselor at Academy Middle School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. She has taught grades 3-5, bilingual and special education. She leads workshops for K-8 teachers on teaching second language learners and is a Responsive Classroom certified consulting teacher.

A: The key to helping second language learners is to provide a supportive, nonthreatening, and language-rich environment. Language emerges naturally in such an environment. Here are a few ideas for welcoming these children into a new school.

If possible, prior to the child's arrival, hold a meeting to prepare students for welcoming a newcomer. The purpose of the meeting should be to raise students' consciousness about the newcomer's country, language, and culture. The more knowledge children have about a new student, the more accepting they'll be. Encourage children to comment on how the student might be feeling and to brainstorm ways to be welcoming.

Arrange for another student to give the child a guided tour of the school. If possible, choose a guide who speaks the newcomer's native language. If this isn't possible, arrange for a classmate to give the tour with an adult who can translate. Throughout the tour, the guide can demonstrate how to behave in different situations, such as how to go through the line in the cafeteria, how to check in at the nurse's office, where to wait for the bus, etc. The guide or adult translator can also take photos of various school locations, staff members, and classmates, which the new student can then share with family and friends.

Finally, listening to unintelligible talk for long periods of time can be tiring. Second language learners need opportunities to take breaks from this, especially during their first few weeks in a classroom. I provide a "Newcomer's Bag" for this purpose. It's filled with games and activities that allow for easy success and stress-free breaks from classroom activity. The bag includes items such as Lotto and Memory, daily schedules with clocks, clay, coloring books, tracers, play money, books on tape, and picture dictionaries.

Tara Allen is a fifth grade teacher at Bywood Elementary School in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. She has been a classroom teacher for five years and is in the process of becoming a presenter for The Responsive Classroom approach.

A: As an ESL teacher, I always introduced a unit on "Our Families" early in the school year. It was a great way for all of us to get acquainted and for non-English speaking students to begin to learn English. This unit could be adapted for use in any primary classroom.

I began by sharing photographs of my family, along with magazine photos of diverse family groups. Using these photos, I introduced family vocabulary-mother, father, baby, brother, sister, grandmother, etc.-and we practiced using these words in various sentence forms. I then asked children to draw a portrait of their own family. For non-English speaking students, I demonstrated what I wanted them to do.

We displayed the finished drawings on a bulletin board, leaving space beside each one for a photo. I then sent home notes (translated into the family's primary language if possible) asking families to send in family pictures or photocopies of them. For children who didn't have photographs, I either made a home visit and took photos myself or sent the child home with a disposable camera.

These photos and drawings became the reference material for a wealth of language instruction, both oral and written. We used them to practice vocabulary, handwriting, and sentence writing. Students also made books about their families that were cherished both at school and at home. As children's language development progressed, we began to share real family news: "My grandmother is sick" or "We have a new baby." Giving second language learners the English words for the people they love the most is a powerful way to make connections early in the school year. It helps ESL students grow in language proficiency while everyone grows to know one another.

Recommended Reading: Conversations of Miguel and Maria: How Children Learn a Second Language, Linda Ventriglia, 1979

Bonnie Baer-Simahk is the early childhood coordinator for the Fitchburg, Massachusetts, public schools and a consulting teacher for Northeast Foundation for Children. She is a former kindergarten and ESL teacher, grades K-6.

A: Last year, the ESL teacher and I decided to cluster all of the kindergarten ESL students in my classroom. This allowed the ESL teacher to work with these children within their regular classroom, helping the students to feel less isolated and more connected to their classroom community.

Early in the year, Morning Meeting provided many opportunities for helping ESL students feel a sense of belonging while helping English-speaking students develop understanding and empathy for their non-English speaking classmates (see The Morning Meeting Book). For the daily greeting, we learned how to say hello and good morning in the ESL students' languages. For sharing, the English-speaking students modeled how to do this and it wasn't long before the ESL students began to sign up. Even if they couldn't communicate fully with words, many participated successfully by holding up an item to share and responding to yes or no questions. During group activity and news and announcements, the ESL students became familiar with many common English words and phrases along with songs, chants, and raps.

Throughout the year, English-speaking students paired up with ESL students to help them learn to use areas or materials in the room. Family members of ESL students visited the classroom and taught us how to count, speak, or write in their language. Around Chinese New Year, one student's mother taught us how to write 0-10 in Chinese. Children made red Chinese scrolls and used black paint to write their phone numbers in Chinese.

This year, the ESL teacher and I organized a summer orientation for ESL students and their families. This involved a guided tour of the school and classroom and an introduction to routines and materials. Families left with a glossary/pictionary of important words and phrases for the beginning of the school year. I'm looking forward to starting another year of this program; the benefits are tremendous for all the students.

Rick Ellis has been an early childhood/elementary school educator for over twenty-five years. He currently teaches kindergarten at the Dutch Neck School in West Windsor, New Jersey.

Tags: ELL (English Language Learners)

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Welcoming Second Language Learners | Responsive Classroom

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Question:The number of students speaking English as a second language (ESL) is steadily increasing. These children come to the classroom with diverse cultural backgrounds and varying degrees of proficiency with English. We asked several educators, "What are your ideas for helping second language learners feel welcomed and supported in the classroom, especially during the early weeks of the year?

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Helpful Strategies on How To Teach English Learners Who Are Struggling With Math 

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Helpful Strategies on How To Teach English Learners Who Are Struggling With Math 

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My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more than one!

- Excerpt from "Smart," by Shel Silverstein

As a student, I struggled with math. I didn't understand why it came so naturally to some students, but not to me. Looking back, however, I realize that I had an advantage that I wasn't even aware of - I understood the language in which the problems were written, even if I didn't understand how to solve them! Although it is easy to assume that many English language learners (ELLs) will excel in math because math is a "universal language" and students may have had prior educational experience that included mathematical instruction, that assumption can lead educators astray.

As I spoke with teachers and did research for this article, it became very clear that making sure that students understand math vocabulary and have ample opportunities to use it are very important. Solving word problems, following instructions, understanding and using mathematical vocabulary correctly - all of these skills require a language proficiency that sometimes exceeds our expectations. We tend to think of mathematics as a subject that does not require a strong command of language. In reality, however, mathematical reasoning and problem solving are closely linked to language and rely upon a firm understanding of basic math vocabulary (Dale & Cuevas, 1992; Jarret, 1999).

For many educators, the challenge of bringing language and math instruction together is a relatively new one. ELL teachers who hadn't taught content areas previously are now being asked to lead or support instruction in the math classroom, and many math teachers who don't see themselves as language instructors are now responsible for providing effective math instruction to ELLs.

High school math teacher Hillary Hansen learned just how big a role language plays in math instruction when she taught her first Basic Math course for ELLs last year. She wanted so much to provide the students with the good foundation they needed, but she felt unable to reach the students or engage them in her lessons, and by the end of the year she was exhausted and frustrated.

That summer she had an opportunity to join a district Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) cohort to receive professional development and support to meet the needs of ELLs in content classes. She learned about the importance of language acquisition, building background knowledge, increasing student language production, and explicitly teaching academic language. She began this school year with a new set of tools and a deeper understanding of the instructional scaffolding ELLs need in order to learn the content while also learning English. I am happy to report that while Hillary still feels challenged and is working very hard, this year has been much more successful for her and her students.

As a result of more effective instruction, her students:

understand the content better and are working together to find creative ways to learn

discuss math more and know how to use the instructional supports their teacher has in place

are comfortable with math and asking questions to get the help they need.

Hillary feels that she is providing them with the foundation they need not only to understand the mathematical concepts, but also to successfully interact within a math classroom in order to continue learning more advanced concepts.

Following are some strategies that Hillary and some of the other teachers I spoke with found helpful this year, and that they recommend as best practices when teaching math to ELLs.

The importance of teaching academic vocabulary

Vocabulary instruction is essential to effective math instruction. Not only does it include teaching math-specific terms such as "percent" or "decimal," but it also includes understanding the difference between the mathematical definition of a word and other definitions of that word.

The following example, used in a presentation by Dr. Judit Moschkovich of the University of California at Santa Cruz, underscores why vocabulary must be introduced within the context of the content (Moschkovich, 2008):

In this problem, the student is instructed to "find x." The student obviously knew the meaning of the word "find" because he/she "found" it on the page and circled it. The student even put a note on the page to help the teacher in locating the lost "x". The student understood the meaning of "find" in one context, but not in the appropriate mathematical context.

I recently helped a math teacher create a Sheltered Lesson, and I was surprised to find that there were some vocabulary words that I didn't understand. My lack of familiarity with the words hindered my ability to do the math problem and gave me a deeper empathy for ELLs who struggle in the same way with vocabulary and comprehending math assignments. Following is a list of tips for explicitly teaching mathematical academic vocabulary:

Demonstrate that vocabulary can have multiple meanings. Help students understand the different meanings of words such as "table" and "quarter," as well as how to use them correctly in a mathematical context.

Encourage students to offer bilingual support to each other. Students will understand material better if they explain it to another student, and the new student will benefit from hearing the explanation in their first language. (Check the hotlinks for a list of bilingual translations of math vocabulary in multiple languages).

Provide visual cues, graphic representations, gestures, realia, and pictures. Offer students the chance to work with objects and images in order to master vocabulary. If there aren't enough items for each student, use manipulatives on the overhead or posted throughout the classroom, and demonstrate the vocabulary in front of the students. For example, Hillary created a Math Word Wall that has three parts: key vocabulary, "in your own words" definitions, and a variety of ways to portray a function. For example, multiplication is portrayed by the following symbols: x, *, and ( ).

Identify key phrases or new vocabulary to pre-teach. This strategy will help students decide which math function they should apply. Example: "more than" means "add." (See hotlinks for more references about math vocabulary.)

The importance of reading and understanding written math problems

Written word problems present a unique challenge to ELL students and teachers alike. In Reading and Understanding Written Math Problems, Brenda Krick-Morales writes, "Word problems in mathematics often pose a challenge because they require that students read and comprehend the text of the problem, identify the question that needs to be answered, and finally create and solve a numerical equation - ELLs who have had formal education in their home countries generally do not have mathematical difficulties; hence, their struggles begin when they encounter word problems in a second language that they have not yet mastered" (Bernardo, 2005).

Teacher Xiao-lin Yin-Croft has encountered this pattern in her classroom of bilingual Chinese students in San Francisco. She has developed a very creative way to use her students' background knowledge of math as a stepping stone for other language learning. She does this by accelerating math instruction at the beginning of the school year and then building on what students have learned in math in reading and other content areas. In Building Bridges for the Future, a Colorín Colorado "From the Heart" article, Xiao-lin explains her strategy:

First, we read math word problems; I demonstrate the logical thinking process while translating words into pictures and, finally, into number sentences. Soon, they start to explain their own thinking after reading complicated word problems that involve several steps. They correct each other, and argue about which number sentences they should use to arrive at the correct final results. As they sharpen their math skills, I capitalize on their enthusiasm to teach them how to extract the most important information from texts, and move them toward the oral and reading fluency they need to understand and discuss more challenging texts.

Even if you aren't accelerating math instruction, however, there are a number of ways to help students master word problems. Krick-Morales offers suggestions in the previously mentioned article, such as explicit instruction of key vocabulary, daily practice of problem solving, repeated readings of the word problem together as a class, and hands-on activities such as movement, experiments, or drawing to help students comprehend the problem. As students become more familiar with math vocabulary, they will be able to solve problems more easily.

The importance of building background knowledge

As the opening quote from the Shel Silverstein poem reminds us, background knowledge plays a critical role in math class! My colleague Hillary found that sometimes her students would get "lost" in a problem simply because they didn't understand the context. Following are some tips to help in building background knowledge of students.

Modify the linguistic complexity of language and rephrase math problems. Students will understand the problem better if it is stated in shorter sentences and in language they understand.

Guide students to cross out the unnecessary vocabulary in word problems. Doing so allows students to focus on the math function required. For example, one problem Hillary's students came across referred to a "school assembly." Even though the meaning of that phrase wasn't important in the solving of the math problem, students didn't know it wasn't important, and the lack of understanding contributed to their confusion.

Build knowledge from real world examples. Try to reinforce concepts with examples that students can picture and talk students through the situation. For example, if you need to paint a room, you need to know how much area will be covered so that you know how much paint to buy. Look for familiar ideas or props that can be used to engage students such as recipes, news stories about the economy, or discussion of personal spending habits.

Use manipulatives purposefully. This is important at all grade levels. Hillary has found math cubes to be very useful in having students represent the numbers in the problems and then manipulate the cubes to get the answer. She used the cubes and the terms "hot" and "cold" numbers when teaching with the concept of negative numbers. Students would use the red cubes as "hot" or positive numbers and the blue cubes as "cold" or negative numbers. As students laid out the number of hot cubes and cold cubes represented, they could easily see if the answer would be a positive or negative number by which color had the most cubes. A problem such as -2 + 1 = -1 would look like this:

The student then removed pairs of cubes - one red, one blue - until they could no longer remove any blocks. The remaining blocks represent the answer.

The importance of increasing student language production in the content area

As I've worked with content area teachers in my district to develop Sheltered Instruction lessons and activities to enhance ELL learning, I've told them, "If a student doesn't say it in your class, they're never going to say it." This is a bit dramatic, but it's true to some extent. When students learn new vocabulary, the opportunity to use it must be presented in class, because students are unlikely to try it out on their own - especially academic words like "parallelogram" or "function"!

Here are some tips to increase student-to-student interaction with academic language in the math classroom:

Have students translate symbols into words, and write the sentence out. Hillary used this strategy to check students' comprehension of problems before they solved them. For example, 3x + 4 = 16 would be written out, "Three times X plus four equals sixteen." This helps students process the operations involved in the question and gives them an opportunity to think through how to solve it. It also gives students a chance to familiarize themselves with important vocabulary words.

Create a "sentence frame" and post it on the board. Write the format of the sentence you would like students to use in discussion and then hold them accountable for using it. For example, "The answer is _______ degrees because it is a _________ triangle.

Have students share problem-solving strategies. This involves asking a simple question such as, "Did anyone else get the answer in a different way?" Then allow enough wait time so students can think through how their problem-solving process was similar or different to the one offered.

Allow students to discuss how they are thinking about math. This is a way of redirecting the lesson from teacher-to-student to student-to-student. For example a student might ask a question, "How do you know what kind of triangle it is?" Instead of the teacher answering and going to the board and pointing out the names and different triangles, the teacher can simply ask, "Does someone have an answer? Or "Would someone like to offer help to Mario?" Allow students to share how they think about the math concept and any tips they have for remembering the information.

Incorporate writing activities like math journals. This is an excellent way for students to process what they've learned and what questions they still have. The journal could start with simple prompts such as, "One thing I learned today..." "One thing I still don't understand..." "One way I can get the help I need..." "The answer to this problem is..." Writing out the answer to a problem is a very important skill to develop because many state math tests require a constructed response to questions.

Challenge students to create their own math problems. This can be a fun activity if students create a problem similar to the ones you have used in class and they exchange problems with a partner. By creating the problem and checking the answer they are reinforcing their own learning.

Using technology

Technology can also be a powerful tool in math instruction for ELLs. Here are some ideas ways you can play with technology in a math lesson:

Look for educational resources that accompany your school's technology tools and programs. There may be online or software programs available for teachers. For teachers who have an electronic whiteboard in the classroom, there are many resources available on links that can be easily accessed and brought into the classroom.

Look for interactive games that offer students a chance to practice their mathematical skills. Nintendo DS has an educational game called Brain Age, which is not language specific. The game provides excellent mathematical training for numbers and tracks results, showing student improvement over time.

Find out what's available online. Vital NY (Video Teaching and Learning for NYS Educators) on Teachers' Domain offers an online library of free media resources from the best in public television. Teachers' Domain resources include video and audio segments, Flash interactives, images, documents, lesson plans for teachers, and student-oriented activities. (Free registration required.)

If students are using a graphing calculator, ensure that they learn how to use it. Based on background and prior educational experience, students might not be familiar with how to use a calculator nor some of the more sophisticated models, such as the graphing calculator. Give students a chance to practice solving problems with their calculators once you have reviewed different functions. Texas Instruments offers numerous activities and product tutorials in their educational materials.

Even if it doesn't come easily at first, there are ways to get ELLs excited about math. By keeping their language skills and needs in mind when planning mathematical instruction (and by helping your colleagues do the same), you will be taking important steps in helping students master mathematical concepts and skills - and who knows? Your students may be the next generation of economists, rocket scientists, and math teachers just waiting for the tools they need!

Note: I'd like to thank my Minnesota colleagues, Hillary Hansen at Burnsville Senior High School and Kim Olson at Hidden Valley Elementary, as well as Xiao-lin Yin-Croft from San Francisco, for providing many of the helpful math teaching tips in this article. It is inspiring to know that there are talented, creative teachers who are always finding better ways to teach and are willing to share the knowledge.
Common Core Math and ELLs: Blog Posts
These posts from our Common Core blog highlight resources that can be used in Common Core math instruction for ELLs.
EngageNY: Common Core and Math
The EngageNY website provides materials focused on curricular examples, standards for mathematical practice, and other materials for professional development.
Discovery Education: Puzzlemaker
Puzzlemaker is a free puzzle generation tool for teachers, students and parents where users can create and print customized word search, criss-cross, math puzzles, and more using their own word lists.
Catherine Snow: Word Generation
Catherine Snow's new website provides information and resources for educators who would like to learn more about Word Generation and how it is implemented. Includes links to comprehensive academic word list that students need to master to comprehend academic content.
Dave's Math Tables: English/Spanish Dictionary
List of English math vocabulary words with the Spanish equivalent.
PBS Teachers: Math Lessons
PBS Teachers offers a database of multimedia math lessons and activities that can be searched by grade or topic.
SMART Notebook Lesson Activities
Browse lesson activities and materials for classrooms using SMART notebook software. Choose the country or region, and search by curriculum standards, subject and grade level.
Colorín Colorado Webcast: English Language Learners in Middle and High School
This webcast features Dr. Deborah Short and discusses effective instructional strategies for teaching English language learner students in middle and high school, such as the SIOP model.
Translating Word Problems
This is a great site for teachers in the elementary levels, as it provides a list of keywords you can teach your ELLs to look for as they read word problems. Also included are useful ideas and tricks to better prepare students to understand written math problems.

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Math Instruction for English Language Learners

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My dad gave me one dollar bill'Cause I'm his smartest son,And I swapped it for two shiny quarters'Cause two is more than one! - Excerpt from "Smart," by Shel Silverstein As a student, I struggled with math. I didn't understand why it came so naturally to some students, but not to me.

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Summative Assessment Evaluations and Different Types of Examples 

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Summative Assessment Evaluations and Different Types of Examples 

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Math and Reading Worksheets for 3rd Grade 

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Math and Reading Worksheets for 3rd Grade 

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3rd Grade Worksheets & Free Printables | Education.com

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Our free third grade worksheets help your eight- or nine-year-old learn with fun exercises and beautiful illustrations. Download and print today.

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How to Deal With Diversity in the Classroom

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How to Deal With Diversity in the Classroom

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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How to Help an English Learner Suceed in a Mainstream Classroom

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How to Help an English Learner Suceed in a Mainstream Classroom

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Listen to this post as a podcast:
A note on terminology: The acronym ESL is used less often now in schools than it used to be, because we recognize that many students who are learning English already speak several other languages, so English would not be a "second" language. I use it several times in the post because schools sometimes refer to the teachers as ESL teachers, and the term is still widely used as a search term for this topic. My intent in using the acronym is to make this post easier to find online.

You have a new student, and he speaks no English. His family has just moved to your town from Japan, and though he receives English as a Second Language (ESL) support, he will also be sitting in your room every day to give him more exposure to his new language. How can you be a good teacher to someone who barely understands you?

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, an average of 9 percent of students in U.S. public schools are English Language Learners (ELLs); that number is closer to 14 percent in cities. Although many of these students start off in high-intensity, whole-day English programs, most are integrated into mainstream classrooms within a year, well before their English language skills would be considered proficient.

How prepared are you to teach these students? If you're like most classroom teachers, you have little to no training in the most effective methods for working with English language learners (Walker, Shafer, & Iiams, 2004). So that means we have a problem here: Lots of ELL kids in regular classrooms, and no teacher training to ensure the success of that placement.

Below, three ESL teachers tell us what they know about the things regular classroom teachers can do to improve instruction for ELL students. These 12 strategies are simple, they are not very time consuming, and best of all, they will help everyone in your class learn better:

1. Make it Visual

"Avoid giving instructions in the air," says Melissa Eddington, an Ohio-based ESL teacher. "ELL kids have a harder time processing spoken language." So instructions - even basic directions for classroom procedures - should be written on the board whenever possible. Challenging concepts should be diagrammed or supported with pictures. And modeling the steps of a process or showing students what a finished product should look like can go a long way toward helping students understand. "Sometimes showing our students what to do is all they need in order to do it," Eddington says. Not only will this kind of nonlinguistic representation improve comprehension for ELL students, it will help all of your students grasp concepts better.

2. Build in more group work.

"Kids aren't just empty glasses that we pour stuff into and then at the end of the day they dump it back onto a test," says Kim, an ESL teacher who was the subject of my very first podcast interview. "If you really want the kids to learn, they've got to be engaged." That means less teacher-led, whole-class instruction, and more small groups, where students can practice language with their peers in a more personal, lower-risk setting. And if ELL students attend your class with a resource teacher, make use of that person: In most cases the resource teacher doesn't have to work exclusively with the ESL students; they can work with smaller groups that happen to contain these students, helping to improve the teacher-student ratio and give kids more time to practice.

3. Communicate with the ESL teacher.

Mary Yurkosky, a former ESL teacher in Massachusetts, credits much of her students' success to the strong relationship she had with the regular classroom teachers. "The classroom teachers were always talking to me about what they were doing in their classes," she says. "They made it so easy for me to support them: If a teacher was going to be doing a unit on plants, I could make sure we used some of that same vocabulary in the ESL class."

Ideally, this could be systematized, where ESL teachers could regularly get copies of lesson plans or collaborate with regular classroom teachers to build solid back-and-forth support, but "it doesn't have to be that much work," Yurkosky insists. "Just talk to each other. Talk about what's going on in your classrooms, invite each other to special presentations, share what your students are learning, and the words will naturally find their way into the ESL class."

4. Honor the "silent period."

Many new language learners go through a silent period, during which they will speak very little, if at all. "Don't force them to talk if they don't want to," says Eddington, "A lot of students who come from cultures outside of America want to be perfect when they speak, so they will not share until they feel they are at a point where they're perfect." Just knowing that this is a normal stage in second language acquisition should help relieve any pressure you feel to move them toward talking too quickly.

5. Allow some scaffolding with the native language.

Although it has been a hotly debated topic in the language-learning community, allowing students some use of their first language (L1) in second-language (L2) classrooms is gaining acceptance. When a student is still very new to a language, it's okay to pair him with other students who speak his native language. "Some students are afraid to open their mouths at all for fear of sounding stupid or just not knowing the words to use," Yurkosky says. "Letting them explain things or ask questions in their first language gets them to relax and feel like a part of the class."

And this doesn't only apply to spoken language. If you give students a written assignment, but the ELL student doesn't yet have the proficiency to handle writing his response in English, "Don't make them just sit there and do nothing," Eddington says. "Allow them to write in their first language if they're able. This allows them to still participate in journal writing or a math extended response, even if you can't read what they write." There has even been some evidence that allowing second-language learners to pre-write and brainstorm in L1 results in higher-quality writing in L2 in later stages of the writing process (Yigzaw, 2012).

6. Look out for culturally unique vocabulary.

"For most of these kids, their background knowledge is lacking, especially with things that are unique to American or westernized culture," says Eddington. It's important to directly teach certain vocabulary words: "Show them videos of what it looks like to toss pizza dough, show pictures of a juke box or a clothing rack - things that are not common in their own language."

One way to differentiate for ELL students is to consider the whole list of terms you're going to teach for a unit, and if you think an ELL student may be overwhelmed by such a long list, omit those that are not essential to understanding the larger topic at hand.

7. Use sentence frames to give students practice with academic language.

All students, not just English language learners, need practice with academic conversations. Sentence frames - partially completed sentences like "I disagree with what _________ said because..." - show students how to structure language in a formal way. Keep these posted in a highly visible spot in your classroom and require students to refer to them during discussions and while they write.

For this kind of language to really sink in, though, Kim says it has to become a regular part of class. "They won't do it if it's not the norm in the class, because they'll be embarrassed to use it among their peers," she says. "But if they can put it off on the teacher and say, Oh, well, you know, Miss Kim makes me talk like this, then they don't look as hoity-toity as they would otherwise."

8. Pre-teach whenever possible.

If you're going to be reading a certain article next week, give ESL students a copy of it now. If you plan to show a YouTube video tomorrow, send a link to your ESL students today. Any chance you can give these students to preview material will increase the odds that they'll understand it on the day you present it to everyone else. "That kind of thing is wonderful," Yurkosky says. "The kids feel so empowered if they've had a chance to look at the material ahead of time."

9. Learn about the cultural background of your students...

Our second-language populations grow more diverse every year. Taking the time to learn the basics of where a child comes from - exactly, not 'somewhere in the Middle East/South America/Asia/Africa' - tells the student that you respect her enough to bother. Kim remembers one time when she had to set the record straight about the diverse South American population at her school: "I was listening to the teachers talking about the 'Mexican' kids in our building," she says, "and I was like, 'We don't have any Mexicans.'" Not taking the time to at least correctly identify a child's country of origin, much like not bothering to pronounce their name correctly, is a kind of microaggression, a small, subtle insult that communicates hostility toward people of color. Make a commitment to be someone who bothers to get it right.

Once you have the country straight, take things up a notch by learning about students' religious and cultural practices. If he is a practicing Muslim, he should be told if one of the pizzas you ordered for the class party has sausage on it. If she comes from a culture where eye contact with adults is viewed as disrespectful, you'll know not to force her to look you in the eye when she's talking.

10. ...but don't make a child speak for his entire culture.

In her podcast interview, Kim shared a story about watching a teacher ask a new Iraqi student how he felt about the war in his country, right in the middle of class. "That's not cultural inclusiveness," she explains. "I've seen teachers do this and then pat themselves on the back. The students' English is limited so they can't express themselves very well, and they don't want to 'represent'; they just want to be there." If you anticipate a theme coming up in your class that's going to be relevant to one of your students, have a conversation with them in advance, or check with your ESL teacher to see if they think it's appropriate for in-class discussion.

11. Show them how to take themselves less seriously...

By modeling the risk-taking that's required to learn a new language, you help students develop the courage to take their own risks, and to have a sense of humor about it. "I tried to say the word 'paint' ( pinta) in Portuguese and instead I said the word for 'penis' ( pinto). They all roared with laughter while I stood there with a What?? look on my face," Yurkosky says. "When they explained what I'd said, I laughed so hard! I told them that laughing was fine because sometimes mistakes are really funny, but ridicule is never okay."

12. ...but always take them seriously.

One of Kim's pet peeves about how teachers interact with English language learners is the way they often see students' efforts as 'cute,' missing the whole point of what the student is trying to say. "A student will be desperate to communicate, and the teacher will get distracted by the delivery and miss the message," she says. "That's painful for me to watch." It bothers her when teachers mistake a lack of language for a lack of intelligence or maturity. When a child can't express themselves as well as they would in their native language, it's far too easy to assume the concepts just aren't in their heads.

"It breaks my heart when I hear teachers say (ELL kids) don't know anything," says Eddington. "These are brilliant kids and they know a lot. They just can't tell us in English yet." Make a conscious effort to see past the accent and the mispronunciations and treat every interaction - every student - with the respect they deserve.

"They're doing twice the job of everybody else in the class," Kim adds, "even though the result looks like half as much." ♦

Further Reading

The ESL/ELL Teacher's Survival Guide is one of the highest-rated books on teaching English-language learners available. In addition to offering an overview of the research on second-language learners and best practices in teaching ESL, it also includes a whole section on teaching ESL in the content areas and another specifically geared toward teaching ELL students in mainstream classrooms.
References:
Walker, A., Shafer, J., & Iiams, M. (2004). "Not in my classroom": Teacher attitudes towards English language learners in the mainstream classroom. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 2(1), 130-160.

Yigzaw, A. (2012). Impact of L1 use in L2 English writing classes. Ethiopian Journal of Education and Sciences, 8(1), 11-27.

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12 Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom

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Advice from three ESL teachers on the things regular classroom teachers can do to help English language learners thrive in mainstream classrooms.

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Kindergarten Worksheets for Math and English 

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Kindergarten Worksheets for Math and English 

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Common Core Standards | Common Core Activities, Worksheets, and Workbooks.

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K.CC.4 Worksheets, K.CC.4 Activities, K.CC.4 Worksheet, K.CC.4 Activity, K.CC.4 Standard, K.CC.4 Common Core, K.CC.4 Common Core Standard, K.CC.4 Lesson Plans, K.CC.4 Lessons, CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4, CCSS K.CC.4
Kindergarten Counting and Cardinality Standards
Count to tell the number of objects.

K.CC.4. Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.

When counting objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name and each number name with one and only one object.

Understand that the last number name said tells the number of objects counted. The number of objects is the same regardless of their arrangement or the order in which they were counted.

Understand that each successive number name refers to a quantity that is one larger.

Worksheets, Activities and Posters for this standard, along with all other Math and ELA Common Core Standards for Kindergarten, are included in the Kindergarten Common Core Workbook.

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K.CC.4 Common Core Worksheets and Activities - Common Core Standards | Common Core Activities, Worksheets, and Workbooks.

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K.CC.4 Worksheets, K.CC.4 Activities, K.CC.4 Worksheet, K.CC.4 Activity, K.CC.4 Standard, K.CC.4 Common Core, K.CC.4 Common Core Standard, K.CC.4 Lesson Plans, K.CC.4 Lessons, CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4, CCSS K.CC.4 Kindergarten Counting and Cardinality Standards Count to tell the number of objects. K.CC.4. Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.

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Instructional Activities For Elementary Students During Reading  

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Instructional Activities For Elementary Students During Reading  

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Effective Strategies, Tips, and Activities for the Classroom

Discover 10 effective reading strategies and activities for your elementary classroom. From book activities to read-alouds, there is something for every student.

Since 1919, National Children's Book Week has been dedicated to encourage young readers to enjoy books. During this week, schools and libraries across the nation will celebrate this by participating in book-related events and activities. Get your students involved in this time-honored tradition by creating fun, educational activities. Activities include hosting a book exchange, planning a book party, having a book cover contest, making a class book, a book-a-thon, and much more. More "

Book reports are a thing of the past, it's time to be innovative and try some book activities that your students will enjoy. These activities will reinforce and enhance what your students are currently reading. Try a few, or try them all. They can also be repeated throughout the year. Here you will learn 20 classroom activities that compliment the books that students are reading. More "

Looking for ideas on how to boost your students reading motivation? Try to focus on activities that spark your students' interest and help increase their self-esteem. Research confirms that a child's motivation is the key factor in successful reading. You may have noticed students in your classroom who ​are struggling readers, tend to have a lack of motivation and do not like to partake in book-related activities. These students may have trouble selecting appropriate texts, and therefore do not like to read for pleasure. Here are five ideas and activities to increase your students reading motivation and encourage them to get into books. More "

Studies show that children need to practice reading every day in order to improve their reading skills. Developing and teaching reading strategies to elementary students will help increase their reading ability. Often when students get stuck on a word they are told to "sound it out." While this strategy may work at times, there are other strategies that may work even better. The following is a list of reading strategies for elementary students. Teach your students these tips to help improve their reading ability. More "

Here is a compiled list that you can pick and choose to add to your reading activity calendar. Browse through the list and choose the ones you like. The activities are in no special order and can be placed on your calendar on any given day. Here are a few examples of what you will learn, how to write a letter of appreciation to an author and mail it to them, have your friends/classmates dress up like the characters from your favorite book, create a word game and make a list of words to describe something you love, make a list of the longest words that you know, make a list of your top 10 favorite things.

A good read-aloud captures the listener's attention, keeps them engaged, and is embedded in your memory for years. Reading aloud to your students is an excellent way to prepare them for success in school, and not to mention, is usually a favorite activity in the classroom. Here is a quick guide all about read-alouds.

Are you looking for ideas for teaching phonics to your elementary students? The analytic method is a simple approach that has been around for nearly one hundred years. Here is a quick resource for you to learn about the method, and how to teach it. Here you will learn the benefits, how to teach the method, and tips for success. More "

The repeated reading strategy is designed for students to be able to feel confident while reading. Its main goal is to help children be able to read accurately, effortlessly and at an appropriate rate. In this ​guide, you will learn the description and purpose of this strategy, along with the procedure and example activities. More "

We have all had those students who have a love for reading and the ones who don't. There may be many factors that correlate with why some students are reluctant to read. The book may be too hard for them, parents at home may not actively encourage reading, or the student is just not interested in what they are reading. As teachers, it is our job to help nurture and develop a love for reading in our students. By employing literacy strategies and creating a few fun activities, we can motivate students to want to read, and not just because we make them read. The following five activities will encourage even the most reluctant readers to be excited about reading. More "

Are you looking for ways to help your students improve their reading skills? It seems as if teachers are always looking for activities and ideas that they can share with their students' parents. Here are a few ideas by author Betty Davis. More "

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10 Effective Reading Strategies to Try Today

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Effective Strategies, Tips, and Activities for the Classroom Discover 10 effective reading strategies and activities for your elementary classroom. From book activities to read-alouds, there is something for every student. Since 1919, National Children's Book Week has been dedicated to encourage young readers to enjoy books.

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Comprehension Strategies and their benefits for Elementary Students

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Comprehension Strategies and their benefits for Elementary Students

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4th grade reading strategies for the development of writing and reading skills

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4th grade reading strategies for the development of writing and reading skills

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4th Grade Reading Strategy and Curriculum Standards: Writing Applications

Language arts lessons for 4th grade reading strategy students include development of reading skill by creating multiple-paragraph compositions. This 4th grade language arts activity requires that they provide an introductory paragraph which establishes and supports a central idea with a topic sentence near the beginning of the paragraph. 4th grade students need to include supporting paragraphs with simple facts, details, and explanations and conclude with a paragraph that summarizes the points.

The 4th grade reading strategy and language arts worksheets train students to understand and use traditional structures for conveying information. For example chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, as well as posing and answering a question will all be covered by 4th grade reading strategy language arts lessons. Revision and editing are reading skills that are developed more using language arts worksheets this year. 4th grade students edit and revise selected drafts to improve coherence and progression by adding, deleting, consolidating, and rearranging text.

Another element of 4th grade reading strategy language arts activity includes writing narratives that relate ideas, observations, or recollections of events and experiences. 4th grade students are required to provide a context to enable a reader to imagine the world of an event or experience, and to use concrete sensory details. Also the students should provide insight into why the selected event or experience is memorable.

Part of the 4th grade reading strategy is for children to write responses to literature showing an understanding of the literary work. They should be able to support judgments through references to the text, using prior knowledge. Another 4th grade language arts activity that develops reading skill is the writing of informational reports. In doing this they should frame a central question about an issue or situation, include facts and details for focus, and draw from more than one source of information. For instance they may include reference material from speakers, books, newspapers, other media sources. The 4th grade reading strategy also calls for writing summaries that contain the main ideas of guided reading selections, elucidating the most significant details.

Good grammar is of vital importance for 4th grade reading strategy students. This year they will use language arts worksheets to identify and use regular and irregular verbs, adverbs, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions. Focus will be on sentence structure as a 4th grade language arts activity, with the goal that students will use simple and compound sentences in writing and speaking and will combine short, related sentences with appositives, participial phrases, adjectives, ad-verbs, and prepositional phrases. Punctuation learned this year includes the use of parentheses, commas in direct quotations, and apostrophes in the possessive case of nouns and in contractions. 4th grade students are expected to use underlining, quotation marks, or italics to identify titles of documents when completing their language arts lessons. The 4th grade reading strategy also emphasizes the need for children to capitalize names of magazines, newspapers, works of art, musical compositions, organizations, and the first word in quotations when appropriate. At this reading skill level students will be taught to correctly spell roots, inflections, suffixes and prefixes, and syllable constructions.

4th Grade Reading Strategy and Curriculum Standards: Speaking - Reading Strategy

The 4th grade reading strategy includes development of listening and speaking skills. This vital language arts activity enhances a child's reading skill as they learn to listen critically and respond appropriately to oral communication. Language arts lessons help children speak in a manner that helps a listener understand their ideas. During the 4th grade year, students demonstrate reading comprehension by retelling, paraphrasing, and explaining what has been said by a speaker. Students are expected to listen critically and respond appropriately to oral communication. They should speak using proper phrasing, pitch, and modulation. During comprehension testing, 4th grade language arts worksheets are used to help children analyze the purpose of listening. The children are prompted to ask thoughtful questions and to respond to relevant questions with appropriate elaboration in oral settings. Students are expected to summarize major ideas and supporting evidence presented in spoken messages and formal presentations, and to give precise directions and instructions. The 4th grade reading strategy includes identification of how language usages such as sayings and expressions, reflect regions and cultures.

4th grade reading strategy students deliver brief recitations and oral presentations including effective introductions and conclusions that guide and inform the listener's understanding of important ideas and evidence. Language arts lessons help students who are speaking to use traditional structures to convey information and to emphasize points. They are expected to use volume, pitch, phrasing, pace, modulation, and gestures appropriately to enhance meaning. One language arts activity is to use details, examples, anecdotes, or experiences to explain or clarify information.

Another part of the 4th grade reading strategy is for children to recite brief poems of two or three stanzas, soliloquies, or dramatic dialogues. They should use clear diction, tempo, volume, and phrasing. After reading articles and books assigned by their reading teacher, students should deliver oral summaries that contain the main ideas of the events or articles and the most significant details. Yet another 4th grade reading strategy language arts activity is to have students evaluate the role of the media in focusing attention on events and in forming opinions on issues. The students make informational presentations by framing a key question, including facts and details that help listeners focus, and incorporating several sources of information. For example they will research speakers, books, newspapers, television, or radio reports when preparing their presentations. All these components of the 4th grade reading strategy help children develop greater reading skill.

The 4th grade reading strategy teaches students to select a focus, an organizational structure, and a point of view based upon purpose, audience, length, and format requirements. Students are expected to write fluidly and legibly in cursive or joined italic, and to use correct indentation. Good penmanship is an important part of any language arts activity. 4th grade students write compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, events, and experiences. Their writing should demonstrate a good command of standard American English and advanced drafting, research, and organizational strategies.;

More: 4th Grade Spelling Words.

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*Reading Standards are defined by each state. Time4Learning bases its use of 4th Grade reading standards on the national bodies that recommend curriculum and standards and the interpretations of it by a sampling of states notably Florida, Texas, and California.

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4th Grade Reading Strategy and Curriculum Standards

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Language arts lessons for 4th grade reading strategy students include development of reading skill by creating multiple-paragraph compositions. This 4th grade language arts activity requires that they provide an introductory paragraph which establishes and supports a central idea with a topic sentence near the beginning of the paragraph.

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Different Ways to Communicate With Parents Fro 

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Different Ways to Communicate With Parents Fro 

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How to make writing fun/enjoyable for ELL

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How to make writing fun/enjoyable for ELL

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"The meaning of even a single word is rather more complex than one might imagine."

- Editors of the American Heritage Dictionary, 1980, p. viii

"Teacher, do we need our pencils today?" my Puerto Rican elementary students would urgently ask when I came to their classroom to escort them to my English as a Second Language classroom. I was a student teacher in a Massachusetts elementary school, and it took me awhile to figure out the correlation between the pencil and hallway behavior. If I replied, "Yes, you should bring a pencil," the walk to my classroom took 15 minutes and involved a lot of disruptions, student squabbles, drifting students and other various misbehaviors. As a student teacher, I was very focused on keeping order and creating a challenging learning environment. If I replied, "No, you don't need a pencil today," the walk to my classroom took about five minutes, even with a stop at the drinking fountain.

So, what was the correlation? Writing. The students knew that if they had to bring a pencil they would have to do writing in the class, and they dreaded it. If they didn't need a pencil, we would be working on projects or doing more verbal work, and they liked that. What they weren't expecting was that half-way through my student teaching, I bought 10 boxes of pencils and kept them in my classroom, so they never had to bring a pencil to class - I had plenty to go around. This improved the hallway behavior, but still left me with the question of how to improve ESL student writing when they were frustrated by the practice and went to great lengths to avoid it.

I have been teaching ESL for many years and there is no perfect solution to this problem; however, I do believe I have added quite a few writing activities to my bag of tricks and improved my ability to differentiate writing tasks based on student ability. As I improved my ability to ensure that each student would be successful in the writing activity, their confidence increased, and they were less likely to engage in disruptive behavior. You know what I'm talking about - the long, dramatic search for a pencilâ€¦ and then paperâ€¦ or the meandering walk about the room to get yesterday's writing draft, or the ever popular, "15 minute pencil sharpening" session. I hope some of the writing activities I share with you will help you to reduce anxiety in your ESL students and increase their language and writing skills.

There is a very important correlation between writing and language development. As students develop language skills, they often develop listening skills first (lots of input they can understand), then speaking (they begin to formulate their ideas in the second language), then reading (they can understand the sound/symbol correspondence of the new language and make sense of the words) and finally writing (they have enough language to express their own ideas in writing). This is not true for 100% of language learners, but it is true for the majority of them. Why is writing often the last skill to emerge? It almost seems that reading would be more difficult because the student needs to sound out words and understand the author's message. It would seem writing might be easier because students are sharing their own ideas already in their heads and simply putting them on paper. However, writing requires a lot more processing of language in order to produce a message.

First the student must have an idea, then think of the appropriate way to say it, then start to write it and spell it correctly, and then create another sentence to continue to communicate the idea. If we add the students' worry that they are making huge, embarrassing errors or that their ideas aren't very good in the first place, then we begin to understand the complexity involved in writing in a second language. In fact, the way we communicate, or the way students put their ideas on paper, is largely influenced by their culture. In some of my classes, my Asian students were very confused when I told them to revise their writing because this was a "first draft." In their experience they had always written an item once and submitted it as "the final," and then the teacher would correct it. The idea that they had to write it over again didn't make sense to them. Students from other cultures may have developed a storytelling style that involves laying out a lot of background information and detail and takes quite a while to get to the point. In most western writing, we expect a topic sentence or a lead paragraph that will tell us what the point is, and then everything written after that leads to a direct conclusion. Many of my students had great difficulty connecting their ideas this way.

With that said, teachers have a big task in improving ESL student writing skills, but the payoff for instructional dedication can be great. A researcher on adolescent literacy at the University of Minnesota, David O'Brien, did a study on improving the reading skills of adolescent students. All of the students were involved in a six week study and during that time they were responsible for creating brochures and other types of communication on computers. They had criteria to input a certain amount of text and graphics to create a final project. This required lots of thought and revisions to achieve the final result. At the end of the six weeks the students took a reading test and the majority of them had improved their reading skills significantly. This was a very interesting result, considering that the teachers had not focused on teaching reading skills. The conclusion was that students used meta-cognition to process language and work with it in a more meaningful way, so that consequently their reading skills improved even though they were mostly working on writing.

Additional positive academic results have been seen in the "90 90 90 Schools." These are schools that researchers have identified as 90% poverty, 90% students of color and 90% achieving standards. This is a most remarkable combination in the educational world. The researchers examined these schools and found one common denominator among them - they all focused on developing writing skills. Each school had an agreed upon writing curriculum and methodology that was used at all grade levels, and student writing was prominently displayed throughout the building and in classrooms. Students used writing in all content areas to demonstrate academic concepts learned. In the end, 90% of the students in these schools were able to pass state grade-level tests based on the academic standards.

Now that I have hopefully convinced you that all your hard work will pay off, I would like to introduce some effective writing activities. I would like to acknowledge that there are many types of effective writing instruction used in classrooms today, including process writing, graphic organizers as writing planning tools, vocabulary stretchers, etcâ€¦ and all of those are beneficial to ELL students. For the purpose of this article, I will focus on a few writing activities that I think are particularly useful when working with students with a wide-range of English language skills.

How to differentiate writing activities:

With some pre-planning, a teacher can create a writing assignment that will allow every student to be successful. For example, the teacher may give a writing assignment that has A, B and C levels (or they can be number or color-coded).

ELL students at Level A copy a sentence or short passage exactly as it is written. This helps beginning-level students who are not very familiar with the language, but may be able to interpret some of the information as they copy it.

Level B students receive a paragraph or two that has blank spaces in the text. The students write the word or phrase that completes the sentence. This allows the student to write an amount that is not overwhelming and helps them comprehend the information.

Level C students write on their own, but perhaps they receive paragraph prompts or are allowed to look in a book, but must put the idea in their own words. After some practice with this system and getting to know your students' English language skills, you will be able to create a system that works best for your class.

Language Experience Approach

The Language Experience Approach draws on instructional techniques used with younger children who have not yet developed literacy skills. In this approach, the teacher presents information to the students, or they have an "experience" of some sort - for example, a field trip, or acting out a scene in a book. Then the students tell the teacher what to write on the board to explain the experience. This may be useful as an activity for a volunteer or teacher's aide to use with a small group of ESL students during literacy time. Here are the steps.

1. Experience something - for example, the students have listened to the story, "The Little Red Hen" and then acted it out.

2. The teacher stands by the board or a large sheet of paper and says to the students, "Tell me the story of the Little Red Hen."

3. As each student tells a part of the story, the teacher writes it down on the board, just as it was stated. For example, a student might say, "The Little Red Hen work so hard and nobody want help her." This continues until each student has spoken or the story is finished.

4. Then the teacher tells the students, "Let's read the story together and listen to see if the story makes sense and if there is anything we want to change."

5. After reading the story, the teacher asks students if they want to change anything. For example, one student may raise her hand and say, "I think it should say, "worked" not "work." The teacher may ask other students if they agree or disagree.

6. If the suggested change is correct, the teacher offers praise and moves on to the next suggestion. If the suggested change is not correct, the teacher should help the student analyze the suggested change. For example, if the student says, "I think it should say, â€˜The Little Red Hen she worked so hardâ€¦." The teacher would ask if others agree and see if there is discussion, then the teacher could point out that the Little Red Hen is the pronoun or "name," so in English we don't need to put it in twice. We can say "She worked so hard." Or "The Little Red Hen worked so hard."

7. When students have analyzed and corrected the whole text, the teacher may either circle a few more spots where students missed corrections and they can be challenged to figure out what the change should be, or the students can be instructed to copy the text with the corrections included.

8. As a final activity, students are instructed to take the story home and read it to three people and bring it back with signatures.

After this activity, usually even beginning-level ELL students are able to read the story to others because it was their experience, it is in their own words, and they have worked with the text in a meaningful way.

Sentence Auction

This activity helps students analyze common writing errors through a personalized activity since they are trying to buy their own sentences. Once a week or once a month, a teacher can hold a "Sentence Auction." The teacher takes sentence examples from student writing - some of which have errors and some that don't, and writes them on a handout or overhead projector. The identity of the student who wrote each sentence is not revealed. To begin the sentence auction, each student is given an "account" of perhaps $300. The students are told to "bid" on the good sentences. The winner is the student with the highest number of "good" sentences.

1. The teacher takes on the persona of an "Auctioneer" and opens the bidding at $10.

2. The teacher reads out the sentence confidently exactly as it is written. "Him want to go to school very bad." Who will give me $10?"

3. The students take turns bidding until the teacher decides who has "won" the bid.

4. Some sentences will not sell because students will know they are "bad." Just leave those sentences and move to the next one.

5. After all the sentences have been sold, the teacher goes through the list and the students say whether the sentence was good or bad. If they agree that it was a bad sentence, then the teacher asks them to explain how they can make it a "good" sentence.

6. Finally the students can count how many "good" sentences they have (since they may have bought some bad ones) and a winner is declared.

7. The teacher may want to give a little prize or certificate to the student. In a variation of this activity students can work in pairs or groups to buy the sentences.

Error correction

I have never "corrected" my students' writing mistakes, at least not in the traditional way. I have always told my students, "If I correct your English, I improve my English; if you correct your English, you improve yours." I handled corrections in one of two ways: either I identified what errors I would be looking for in the writing submission or I told them I would only circle five errors in the whole paper. If I pre-set the errors I would look for, for example correct use of past tense, I would only correct past tense errors, even if I saw other glaring errors in the paper. Sometimes this was hard to do, but I wanted to maintain the students' focus on the writing improvement we were working on. If I set a number of errors I would circle, for example, five, then I carefully chose those five and ignored the rest. When I returned the papers, the students were responsible for correcting their own mistakes. If they weren't sure how to do it, they could check with a classmate, and if no one knew, then I would assist. Invariably the students would ask, "Are these the only errors in the paper?" and I would tell them no. They might be disappointed, but they came to understand the value of correcting their own errors when they submitted a piece of writing.

Quick Write

One of the challenges for ELL students when they approach writing is their anxiety about writing their ideas correctly and writing a lot of information in English. This may feel overwhelming when a student is assigned an essay. In order to get students comfortable with the idea of just putting ideas on paper and not worrying about mistakes, we do regular "quick writes." For "quick writes" I give the students a topic and then tell them to write as much as they can for five minutes. They need to keep their pencils on the paper and even if they can't think of anything to write or they are worried about how to spell things, they are supposed to keep writing. At the end of five minutes, the students count how many words they were able to write and they keep track in a log. The objective is that they will see progress in the amount of writing they are able to do in five minutes' time and hopefully apply this fluency to their essay writing.

Cinquain poems

Cinquain poems offer great flexibility in working with ELL students of a variety of language levels. The basic Cinquain formula is as follows, but teachers can modify it as needed according to the student language level.

One noun
Two adjectives
Three gerunds (words + ing)
A short sentence.
A one-word summary
An example of a Cinquain a student might write:
Home
Warm, happy
Loving, welcoming, helping
People you love.
Family

There really is no wrong way to do a Cinquain, students can put key vocabulary words together any way they like to create the message they desire. Teachers may want to use Cinquains to reinforce new content vocabulary and concepts as well.

With these writing activities to try in your classroom, the only thing left is to buy a few boxes of pencils, hand them out to your ELL students and help them discover the possibility of joy in writing. Teachers who use a variety of activities and strategies to help ELL students become comfortable with expressing their ideas in a new language and finding success with small writing tasks, will give their students' confidence for a lifetime of self-expression. I offer this Cinquain poem to sum it up.

Writing
Fun, creative
Thinking, sharing, revising
Lots of ideas.
Proud
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Improving Writing Skills: ELLs and the Joy of Writing

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"The meaning of even a single word is rather more complex than one might imagine." - Editors of the American Heritage Dictionary, 1980, p. viii "Teacher, do we need our pencils today?" my Puerto Rican elementary students would urgently ask when I came to their classroom to escort them to my English as a Second Language classroom.

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Struggles for ELL in Language Development 

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Struggles for ELL in Language Development 

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In this article written for Colorín Colorado, Dr. Lindsey Moses Guccione shares five key challenges related to the oral language development of ELLs, as well as tips for addressing each of the challenges.

Dr. Moses Guccione is the co-author of Comprehension and English Language Learners: 25 Oral Reading Strategies That Cross Proficiency Levels ( Heinemann, 2009).

Getting Started

As a former elementary teacher in a bilingual school, I developed a love and passion for finding effective ways to support oral language and oral reading development of emerging English language learners (ELLs). I discovered this passion when I began my first year of teaching in a second-grade classroom, where I encountered a handful of challenges related to my students' oral language development.

Many students were transitioning from a classroom with Spanish instruction into my classroom with instruction provided in English. I had students ranging from monolingual English speakers to students who had just recently moved to the U.S. from a Spanish-speaking country. The range of language proficiency levels crossed the entire spectrum. Having minimal experience with this range of diverse students and needs, I began reading, researching, and implementing new instructional ideas into my classroom. With each challenge I encountered, I gained new information about my students and their parents. I also began learning more about my own methods of instruction, and I learned a great deal each year about new challenges and successes.

Currently, I am fortunate to work with many teachers who have the opportunity to impact the lives of children and families who speak more than one language. As I work with these teachers and families, I have found five common and reoccurring challenges that they seem to face in the area of oral language development that parallel my own experiences. I detail these challenges and questions below, as well as suggestions for addressing each challenges based on strategies I used in my classroom.

Questions and Classroom Scenarios

1. What do I do if they don't know ANY English?

Understanding the characteristics of language learners at different proficiency levels helps to think about how we can best support students in their oral language and reading development. Below is a chart that gives a description of the first two levels of language proficiency as well as implications for using oral reading. This is a nice place to start when thinking about how to interact with and support our Starting and Emerging English speakers.

Levels of Language Proficiency

Description

Implications For Using Oral Reading

Level 1: Starting
Students are in a silent period in which they listen, but do not speak in English. They may respond using nonverbal cues in attempt to communicate basic needs.

The teacher and other more advanced students should model oral reading. Students in the silent period should not be forced to speak, but should be given the opportunity to participate in a group activity where they won't be singled out.

Level 2: Emerging
Students are beginning to understand more oral language. They respond using one- or two-word phrases and start to produce simple sentences for basic social interactions and to meet basic needs.

Teacher and students should continue to model oral reading. Students should be encouraged to begin taking risks with simple, rehearsed oral reading in non-threatening situations.

Opitz & Guccione (2009). Comprehension and English Language Learners: 25 Oral Reading Strategies that Cross Proficiency Levels.

2. How do I provide instruction and support for the ELLs without holding back the students who are fluent in English?

Differentiation is the key to effective instruction for all students. Students of varying proficiency levels can learn the same content when the teacher provides a wide range of learning opportunities for students with different academic and linguistic needs. Three key strategies for this approach include differentiating or modifying the texts, creating grouping structures, and targeting the amount and nature of support based on students' needs (Opitz & Ford, 2008).

Modifying the text: Teachers can differentiate the text by selecting various levels of text difficulty on similar content, or they can also divide the text up into smaller portions appropriate for certain groups/individuals for a jigsaw activity. Another idea is to summarize text that might be too difficult and provide ways to make the text more accessible (such as vocabulary support, visual support, connecting to background knowledge, etc.).

Creating grouping structures that set students up for success: While some grouping structures can be established according to language or literacy skill levels and needs, it is also important to think about providing students exposure to interact with peers who demonstrate a wide range of different language and literacy skills. Additionally, teachers can improve engagement and motivation by creating choice/interest groups where students gather, read, discuss and work together on topics of common interest.

Targeting the amount and nature of student support: It is important to think about scaffolding the experience and using comprehensible input to make it accessible for all students. Comprehensible input means that students should be able to understand the gist of what is being said or presented. There are many ways to do this, such as selecting key vocabulary, using context or visual cues, building background knowledge, building on experiences the students have had, using consistent language, and providing images or visual representations to support vocabulary and content. Teachers can support their students by embedding comprehensible input into their whole-group instruction, but this also becomes particularly effective when used in the different grouping structures. Teachers can also modify the amount of support and interaction between teachers and students depending on their individual and group needs.

3. This student knows English - I hear him talking to his friends and on the playground. He just doesn't want to try in class.

I have heard many teachers discussing variations of this same idea. However, I would caution teachers and parents about jumping to this conclusion. Academic language (or the language specifically related to school and/or academic content) can be complicated to acquire. Students often first develop social language and demonstrate near proficiency or proficiency in English in social settings. A student may be demonstrating sophisticated use of social language, but they may have difficulty using language in more formal settings such as school.

Much of the academic language required to be successful in school - everything from instructions to expectations to content-specific vocabulary - requires assistance in acquiring. Students hear and use their social language in various settings from home, community, and school, but academic language is often only used in the school setting. These students need specific instruction and support surrounding their language development in this area.

The same children who appear to be functioning at a high level of English proficiency in social settings may actually be functioning at a beginning stage in other settings, depending on how they are called on to use language. The students need to feel safe and in a low-anxiety environment in order to begin to feel comfortable taking risks with their oral language. When they have less exposure and instruction related to academic language, this can often cause students to feel intimidated and less likely to be willing to share in class.

One idea for reducing anxiety and encouraging students to experiment with language might include allowing students to read, practice, and discuss their responses in partners and small groups before sharing out to the entire group. This allows students an opportunity to hear language modeled by peers, practice what they want to say, and possibly revise their original thought and/or language before sharing it in a public way. As students find more success with their language production and classroom participation, they will be more likely to share and take risks, and in turn continue building their confidence.

4. How is the child ever going to learn English if they don't speak it at home?

It is important to celebrate being bilingual and biliterate. Research has shown that development of a students' first language can facilitate development in the second language (Genessee, Geva, Dressler, and Kamil, 2007). Understanding this helps parents, teachers, and children to encourage the use and development of the students' home language while they are at home. All of the home literacy activities that we recommend for English speakers, such as reading aloud, making lists, discussing books, reading environmental print, etc., should also be encouraged for the English language learners in their home language. Students can begin to use more English as they feel comfortable in different settings, but it is important to note that speaking two languages will not hinder their English development.

Another important idea to remember is that we want to invite parents to feel confident in their interactions with their children regardless of their English proficiency level. As they begin to read or retell stories and discuss them at home, they are developing vital oral language and comprehension skills, and these skills will transfer over into their school language.

5. What kinds of activities should I be doing to help the student develop their oral language and oral reading?

McCauley and McCauley (1992) report four factors as necessary for acquiring a second language: a low-anxiety environment, repeated practice, comprehensible input, and drama. These are all important components of setting children up for success and language development.

A low-anxiety environment includes a setting where students feel nurtured and supported by their teacher and peers, and in turn, they feel safe to take risks without the fear of being laughed at or made fun of.

Repeated practice is just like what it sounds! Students need repeated practice hearing and using a new language. They need multiple opportunities to comprehend and express their ideas in a new language. Like with anything new that we learn, practice helps us get better.

Comprehensible input, as explained above, means finding different ways to make what is being said comprehensible and easier to understand. Things to consider with comprehensible input might include using speech that is appropriate for students' language proficiency, providing a clear, step-by-step explanation of tasks, and using a variety of techniques to support their understanding.

Drama, or a sense of excitement and engagement, can be found in activities like Reader's Theatre, dramatic play, puppetry, narrating wordless picture books, etc. All of these activities also have the other three factors embedded within them. These activities assist in the development of oral language in addition to introducing students to oral reading and rich literacy experiences and responses in a classroom setting.

Closing Thoughts

As you can see from these questions and examples, there are a lot of different approaches to helping ELLs build their oral language development skills, and you may have to try different activities until you find what works for your students. The most important thing, however, is to build your students' confidence while giving them new words and phrases to practice. Don't be afraid to try something new - and most of all, don't be afraid to have fun doing it!

About the Author

Dr. Lindsey Moses Guccione is a coauthor of Comprehension and English Language Learners: 25 Oral Reading Strategies that Cross Proficiency Levels. She is an assistant professor at the University of Northern Colorado and teaches courses in Early Childhood Education, Literacy, and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education. She is a former elementary teacher of English language learners and is currently researching how ELLs make sense of texts.

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Oral Language Development and ELLs: 5 Challenges and Solutions

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In this article written for Colorín Colorado, Dr. Lindsey Moses Guccione shares five key challenges related to the oral language development of ELLs, as well as tips for addressing each of the challenges. Dr. Moses Guccione is the co-author of Comprehension and English Language Learners: 25 Oral Reading Strategies That Cross Proficiency Levels ( Heinemann, 2009).

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What parents should expect for their child's speech and language development to be during elementary school

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What parents should expect for their child's speech and language development to be during elementary school

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Is your child in elementary school? Use this guide to learn about your child's speech and language development.

Children develop at their own rate. The skills listed are what most children can do by the end of that grade.

Speech-language pathologists, or SLPs, work with children who have speech and language problems.

To find an SLP near you, visit ProFind.

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Your Child's Communication Development: Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade

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Is your child in elementary school? Use this guide to learn about your child's speech and language development.

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What Parents can do for ADHD Student at Home 

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What Parents can do for ADHD Student at Home 

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Relatively simple and straightforward accommodations for ADHD students

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Relatively simple and straightforward accommodations for ADHD students

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Accommodations Help Students with Attention Deficit Disorders

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Children and youth with attention deficit disorder (ADD) often have serious problems in school. Inattention, impulsiveness, hyperactivity, disorganization, and other difficulties can lead to unfinished assignments, careless errors, and behavior which is disruptive to one's self and others.

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What a 504 Plan Should Consist of for ADHD Student in the Classroom

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What a 504 Plan Should Consist of for ADHD Student in the Classroom

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Impulsive behavior. Incomplete homework. Inconsistent focus. Whatever your child's school challenges, these teacher-approved accommodations can put some real muscle behind his 504 Plan and put the attention back on learning.

Group of children photographed from above on various painted tarmac surface at sunset

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Low grades on assignments can be improved by 504 accomodations for adhd.

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Children raising their hand in class

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A student fidgeting during a test which 504 accomodations for adhd can help ease and mitigate.

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A teacher assigning homework on the blackboard, which 504 accomodations for adhd can help your child to complete by improving communication.

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group of middle school girls walking up stairs, talking

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An apprehensive student contemplating his writing assignment, which 504 accomodations for adhd can help manage.

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More Articles Recommended For You

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Every 504 Plan Should Include These ADHD Accommodations

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Impulsive behavior. Incomplete homework. Inconsistent focus. Whatever your child's school challenges, these teacher-approved accommodations can put some real muscle behind his 504 Plan and put the attention back on learning.

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Suggestions to help teachers provide better learning experiences in an inclusive classroom

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Suggestions to help teachers provide better learning experiences in an inclusive classroom

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Resources >> Browse Articles >> Special Education & Learning Disabilities

"Give fewer choices. If a child is asked to pick a color, say red, only give him two to three choices to pick from. The more choices, the more confused an autistic child will become."

Pat Hensley

I am currently teaching a practicum where my students (who are actually teachers getting their master's degree in special education) are teaching students with special needs. Some of these teachers are encountering students with autism for the first time and have felt some anxiety about this so they asked for some ideas and strategies to help them in the classroom. These are some of the suggestions that I have given them that I have used in the classroom successfully.

1. Use Task Analysis -very specific, tasks in sequential order.

2. Always keep your language simple and concrete. Get your point across in as few words as possible. Typically, it's far more effective to say "Pens down, close your journal and line up to go outside" than "It looks so nice outside. Let's do our science lesson now. As soon as you've finished your writing, close your books and line up at the door. We're going to study plants outdoors today".

3. Teach specific social rules/skills, such as turn-taking and social distance.

4. Give fewer choices. If a child is asked to pick a color, say red, only give him two to three choices to pick from. The more choices, the more confused an autistic child will become.

5. If you ask a question or give an instruction and are greeted with a blank stare, reword your sentence. Asking a student what you just said helps clarify that you've been understood.

6. Avoid using sarcasm. If a student accidentally knocks all your papers on the floor and you say "Great!" you will be taken literally and this action might be repeated on a regular basis.

7. Avoid using idioms. "Put your thinking caps on", "Open your ears" and "Zipper your lips" will leave a student completely mystified and wondering how to do that.

8. Give very clear choices and try not to leave choices open ended. You're bound to get a better result by asking "Do you want to read or draw?" than by asking "What do you want to do now?"

9. Repeat instructions and checking understanding. Using short sentences to ensure clarity of instructions.

10. Providing a very clear structure and a set daily routine including time for play).

11. Teaching what "finished" means and helping the student to identify when something has finished and something different has started. Take a photo of what you want the finished product to look like and show the student. If you want the room cleaned up, take a picture of how you want it to look some time when it is clean. The students can use this for a reference.

12. Providing warning of any impending change of routine, or switch of activity.

13. Addressing the pupil individually at all times (for example, the pupil may not realize that an instruction given to the whole class also includes him/her. Calling the pupil's name and saying "I need you to listen to this as this is something for you to do" can sometimes work; other times the pupil will need to be addressed individually).

14. Using various means of presentation - visual, physical guidance, peer modeling, etc.

15. Recognizing that some change in manner or behavior may reflect anxiety (which may be triggered by a [minor] change to routine).

16. Not taking apparently rude or aggressive behavior personally; and recognizing that the target for the pupil's anger may be unrelated to the source of that anger.

17. Avoid overstimulation. Minimizing/removal of distracters, or providing access to an individual work area or booth, when a task involving concentration is set. Colorful wall displays can be distracting for some pupils, others may find noise very difficult to cope with.

18. Seeking to link work to the pupil's particular interests.

19. Exploring word-processing, and computer-based learning for literacy.

20. Protecting the pupil from teasing at free times, and providing peers with some awareness of his/her particular needs.

21. Allowing the pupil to avoid certain activities (such as sports and games) which s/he may not understand or like; and supporting the pupil in open-ended and group tasks.

22. Allowing some access to obsessive behavior as a reward for positive efforts.

Need more tips?
Check out our resources for special education now.

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22 tips teaching students autism spectrum disorders special education & learning disabilities benefits articles

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22 Tips for Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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I am currently teaching a practicum where my students (who are actually teachers getting their master's degree in special education) are teaching students with special needs. Some of these teachers are encountering students with autism for the first time and have felt some anxiety about this so they asked for some ideas and strategies to help them in the classroom.

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Fostering Literacy Development in English Language Learners

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Fostering Literacy Development in English Language Learners

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Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print: The MIT Press.

Anthony, J. L., & Lonigan, C. J. (2004). The nature of phonological awareness: Converging evidence from four studies of preschool and early grade school children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96 (1), 43-55.

August, D. (2002). Literacy for English-language learners: Four key issues. Paper presented at the U.S. Department of Education's Summit on English Language Acquisition, Washington, DC.

August, D., & Hakuta, K. (Eds.). (1997). Improving schooling for language-minority students: A research agenda. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (2000). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (2nd ed.). Columbus, OH: Prentice-Hall.

Bialystok, E. (2002). Acquisition of literacy in bilingual children: A framework for research. Language Learning, 52 (1), 159-199.

Brice, A., & Roseberry-McKibbin, C. (2001). Choice of languages in instruction. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33 (4), 10-16.

Carlisle, J. F., Beeman, M. M., Davis, L. H., & Spharim, G. (1999). Relationship of metalinguistic capabilities and reading achievement for children who are becomming bilingual. Applied Psycholinguistics, 20, 459-478.

Cisero, C. A., & Royer, J. M. (1995). The development and cross-language transfer of phonological awareness. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 20, 275-303.

Cohn, A. (2003). Phonology. In M. Aronoff & J. Rees-Miller (Eds.), The handbook of linguistics (pp. 180-212). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.

Droop, M., & Verhoeven, L. (2003). Language proficiency and reading ability in first- and second-language learners. Reading Research Quarterly, 38 (1), 78-103.

Durgunoglu, A. Y. (2002). Cross-linguistic transfer in literacy development and implications for language learners. Annals of Dyslexia, 52, 189-204.

Durgunoglu, A. Y., Nagy, W. E., & Hancin-Bhatt, B. J. (1993). Cross-language transfer of phonological awareness. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85 (3), 453-465.

Francis, N. (1998). Mezquital, Malintzi y Misión de Chichimecas: La consciencia del lenguaje en el desarrollo de la alfabetización bilingüe [Mezquital, Malintzi and Chichimecas Mission: Language Awareness in the Development of Bilingual Literacy]. Lectura y vida: Revista latinoamericana de lectura, 19 (2), 21-30.

García, G. E. (2000). Bilingual children's reading. In M. L. Kamil, P. B. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. III, pp. 813-834). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

García, G. G., & Beltrán, D. (2003). Revisioning the blueprint: Building for the academic success of English learners. In G. G. García (Ed.), English learners: Reaching the highest level of English literacy (pp. 197-226). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Gersten, R., & Geva, E. (2003). Teaching reading to early language learners. Educational Leadership, 60 (7), 44-49.

Goswami, U. (2000). Phonological and lexical processes. In M. L. Kamil, P. B. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. III, pp. 251-267). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Goswami, U. (2002). Phonology, reading development, and dyslexia: A cross-linguistic perspective. Annals of Dyslexia, 52, 141-163.

Gottardo, A. (2002). The relationship between language and reading skills in bilingual Spanish-English speakers. Topics in Language Disorders, 22 (5), 46-70.

Gottardo, A., Yan, B., Siegel, L. S., & Wade-Woolley, L. (2001). Factors related to English reading performance in children with Chinese as a first language: More evidence of cross-language transfer of phonological processing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93 (3), 530-542.

Helman, L. A. (2004). Building on the sound system of Spanish: Insights from the alphabetic spellings of English-language learners. The Reading Teacher, 57 (5), 452-460.

Henderson, E., & Templeton, S. (1986). A developmental perspective of formal spelling instruction through alphabet, pattern, and meaning. The Elementary School Journal, 86 (3), 304-316.

Juel, C. (1988). Learning to read and write: A longitudinal study of 54 children from first through fourth grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 437-447.

Kirby, J. R., Parrila, R. K., & Pfeiffer, S. L. (2003). Naming speed and phonological awareness as predictors of reading development. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95 (3), 453-464.

Lie, A. (1991). Effects of a training program for stimulating skills in word analysis in first-grade children. Reading Research Quarterly, 26 (3), 234-250.

Lonigan, C. J., Burgess, S. R., & Anthony, J. L. (2000). Development of emergent literacy and early reading skills in preschool children: Evidence from a latent-variable longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 36 (5), 596-613.

Lundberg, I. (2002). Second language learning and reading with the additional load of dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 52, 165-187.

Mann, V. A., & Brady, S. (1988). Reading disability: The role of language deficiencies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56 (6), 811-816.

Marshall, C. M., Snowling, M. J., & Bailey, P. J. (2001). Rapid auditory processing and phonological abilitiy in normal readers and readers with dyslexia. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 44, 925-940.

McLaughlin, B., Gesi Blanchard, A., & Osanai, Y. (1995). Assessing language development in bilingual preschool children. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.

Meier, T. (2003). "Why can't she remember that?" The importance of storybook reading in multilingual, multicultural classrooms. The Reading Teacher, 57 (3), 242-252.

Muter, V., & Diethelm, K. (2001). The contribution of phonological skills and letter knowledge to early reading development in a multilingual population. Language Learning, 51 (2), 187-219.

Nagy, W. E., & Herman, P. A. (1987). Breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge: Implications for acquisition and instruction. In M. G. McKeown & M. E. Curtis (Eds.), The nature of vocabulary acquisition. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

O'Connor, R. E., & Jenkins, J. R. (1999). Prediction of reading disabilities in kindergarten and first grade. Scientific Studies of Reading, 3 (2), 159-197.

Peña, E., Bedore, L. M., & Rappazzo, C. (2003). Comparison of Spanish, English, and bilingual children's performance across semantic tasks. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 34 (1), 5-16.

Proctor, C. P., Carlo, M., August, D., & Snow, C. E. (2005). Native Spanish-speaking children reading in English: Toward a model of comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97 (2), 246-256.

Quiroga, T., Lemos-Britton, Z., Mostafapour, E., Abbott, R. D., & Berninger, V. W. (2001). Phonological awareness and beginning reading in Spanish-speaking ESL first graders: Research into practice. Journal of School Psychology, 40 (1), 85-109.

Schatschneider, C., Fletcher, J. M., Francis, D. J., Carlson, C. D., & Foorman, B. (2004). Kindergarten prediction of reading skills: A longitudinal comparative analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96 (2), 264-282.

Slavin, R. E., & Cheung, A. (2003). Effective programs for English language learners: A best-evidence synthesis. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, CRESPAR.

Slavin, R. E., & Cheung, A. (2004). How do English language learners learn to read? Educational Leadership, 61 (6), 52-57.

Swan, D., & Goswami, U. (1997). Phonological awareness deficits in developmental dyslexia and the phonological representations hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 66, 18-41.

Tabors, P. O., & Snow, C. E. (2002). Young bilingual children and early literacy development. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 159-178). New York: The Guilford press.

Torgesen, J. K., Morgan, S. T., & Davis, C. (1992). Effects of two types of phonological awareness training on word learning in kindergarten children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84(3), 364-370.

Vellutino, F. R., & Scanlon, D. M. (1987). Phonological coding, phonological awareness, and reading ability: Evidence from a longitudinal and experimental study. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 33(3), 321-363.

Vernon-Feagans, L., Hammer, C. S., Miccio, A., & Manlove, E. (2002). Early language and literacy skills in low-income African American and Hispanic children. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research, (pp. 192-210). New York: The Guilford Press.

Wagner, R. K., Torgesen, J. K., Rashotte, C. A., Hecht, S. A., Barker, T. A., Burgess, S. R., et al. (1997). Changing relations between phonological processing abilities and word-level reading as children develop from beginning to skilled readers: A 5-year longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 33(3), 468-479.

Zahar, R., Cobb, T., & Spada, N. (2001). Acquiring vocabulary through reading: Effects of frequency and contextual richness. Canadian Modern Language Review, 57(4), 541-572.

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Fostering Literacy Development in English Language Learners

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Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print: The MIT Press. Anthony, J. L., & Lonigan, C. J. (2004). The nature of phonological awareness: Converging evidence from four studies of preschool and early grade school children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96 (1), 43-55. August, D. (2002).

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Framework

2014 English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework (ELA/ELD Framework) (Dated Jul-2015)
The 2014 ELA/ELD Framework has been developed to support and incorporate the California Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy) and the California English Language Development Standards (CA ELD Standards). The SBE (California State Board of Education) adopted the ELA/ELD Framework on July 9, 2014. This is the final digital version of the ELA/ELD Framework.

Executive Summary: English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework (Dated Oct-2015).
The executive summary provides a glimpse into the ELA/ELD Framework and the guidance it provides for educators, including descriptive snapshots and vignettes of grade-level instruction.

Contact the CDE Press at 1-800-995-4099 or visitCDE Press web page.

Video: Overview of the ELA/ELD Framework (Video; 10:40) (Dated 24-Feb-2015)
This video provides an overview of the English Language Arts/English Language Development (ELA/ELD) Framework for California Public Schools, which provides guidance to teachers, administrators, and other educators for implementing the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy and the CA ELD Standards.

Implementation Support

Circles of Implementation

The Circles of Implementation figure and corresponding narrative description (which appears in the State Board of Education-Adopted ELA/ELD Framework, Chapter 2, on Page 4) have been translated into Spanish to support the implementation of the ELA/ELD Framework. The English version is provided for reference.
Circles of Implementation (PDF; Posted Jan-2016)
Los Círculos de la Implementación (PDF; Mar-2016)

Implementation Support for the ELA/ELD Framework

Implementation Support for the ELA/ELD Framework (20 Jan-2017)
This select collection of resources connects the content in the ELA/ELD Framework with other resources from the California Department of Education, as well as other reputable sources that address the five key instructional themes: meaning making, effective expression, language development, content knowledge, and foundational skills. The intent of this collection is to provide educators additional resources they can use to expand the scope of the guidance in the ELA/ELD Framework and to inform professional development and instructional decisions at all schools and districts.

Guides for Supporting English Learners and the Five Key Themes in the ELA/ELD Framework

Resources with an English Learner Emphasis

Resources Tracing the Five Key Themes

Additional Resources Supporting the Implementation of the ELA/ELD Framework

Chart of ELA/ELD Framework Snapshots and Vignettes | PDF; Posted Jul-2015)
Brief snapshots and longer vignettes are included throughout the ELA/ELD Framework to provide examples of instruction. This chart lists all the snapshots and vignettes, by chapter, and includes the grade level, page number(s), and indicates the different content areas each snapshot and vignette addresses. (Note: In the items column, "S" stands for a snapshot, and "V" represents vignettes.)

Chart of ELA/ELD Framework Figures (PDF; Jul-2015)
A variety of figures (including charts, definitions, descriptions, explanations) are included throughout the ELA/ELD Framework to provide more detailed support for implementation and instruction. This chart lists all the figures, by chapter, with figure titles and page number (s).

ELA/ELD Figures: Introduction - Chapter 2 (PDF; 8MB; Posted Jul-2015)
All figures (includes charts, diagrams, definitions, descriptions, explanations) for the introduction and chapters 1 and 2 are compiled into this document

ELA/ELD Figures: Chapter 3-7 (PDF; 5MB; Posted Jul-2015)
All figures (includes charts, diagrams, definitions, descriptions, explanations) for the grade-level chapters 3-7 are compiled, by chapter, into this document.

ELA/ELD Figures: Chapters 8-11 (PDF; 11MB; Posted Jul-2015)
All figures (includes charts, diagrams, definitions, descriptions, explanations) for systems of support, such as assessment, access and equity, and 21st century learning are compiled, by chapter, into this document.

California State ELA/ELD Resources for Local Planning (Video; 6:31) In this video, Tom Adams, Deputy Superintendent from the California Department of Education, shares selected State resources that can assist in local planning efforts regarding the implementation of the ELA/ELD Framework.

Highlighting the Needs of English Leaners in the Framework Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) has developed two web pages to provide easy access to resources within the ELA/ELD Framework that specifically highlight practices, programs, and structures that address the needs of English learners. Links connect to Framework Snapshots and Vignettes andFramework Figures .

Secondary Literacy Partnership Webinar Series: ELA/ELD Implementation: Teachers Lead the Way!
Presenters Nancy Brynelson and Jo Ann Isken, lead developers of the ELA/ELD Framework, gave an orientation to the Framework via the new Executive Summary and guided participants in activities exploring the Framework's vignettes, figures, and snapshots. They also shared strategies for collaboration and professional learning. (Presented on October 14, 2015.)

Secondary Literacy Partnership Webinar Series: A Close Encounter, Through the Writers' Eyes, of the New ELA/ELD Framework
The lead writers of the ELA/ELD Framework - Pam Spycher, Hallie Yopp Slowik, and Nancy Brynelson - share important understandings in the framework, including instructional strategies that support the goals of the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy and the CA ELD Standards. (Presented on September 17, 2014.)

California's Recently Adopted English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework: Translating the Common Core State Standards to a Coherent and Sequenced Curriculum for All Students (PDF)
Article by Jo Ann Isken, Chair, and Bill Honig, Vice Chair, of the California Instructional Quality Commission and Carol Jago, contributing writer to the ELA/ELD Framework and Associate Director of the California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA.

CCSS English Language Arts Resources
Resources to support the teaching of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English language arts (ELA).

CCSS and CA ELD Standards Resources
Resources to support the teaching of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) with the California English Language Development Standards (CA ELD Standards).

CCSS Literary Resources
Resources to support the teaching of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects.

Integrating the CA ELD Standards into K-12 Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning (DOC)
State Board of Education approved Correspondence Study Report that demonstrates a strong correspondence between the California ELD Standards and the California standards for mathematics and science.

Content Standards
Links to downloads of all Content Standards.

All Curriculum Frameworks
Links to downloads of all Curriculum Frameworks.

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The State Board of Education adopted the English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework (ELA/ELD Framework) on July 9, 2014. Curriculum frameworks provide guidance to educators, parents, and publishers, to support implementing California content standards.

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Parent Folders that contain Data of Parent information and Paperwork  

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Parent Folders that contain Data of Parent information and Paperwork  

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Do you have parents who claim they feel "out of the loop" when asked about their child's progress? Sometimes, I used to get an angry call when interim report cards came out because parents didn't understand why their child had earned a "C." Of course, they had access to online grading systems 24 hours a day, and had supposedly seen the work coming home, but I knew I had to do something different.

I decide to create a folder that would go home every other week, and which would require a parent signature. This way, I knew that a parent would not be able claim they were not informed. My folders also require the student to do a self-reflection, which aides in the discussions at home about the current grades. Lastly, I wanted a way for the students to track their own progress with graphs and charts - hence the name Data Folders was born!

Parents are introduced to the Data Folders at Open House, on my teacher website, as well as in the Parent Handbook which is sent home. I try to cover all the bases so that parents are well-informed. They are told that it is a folder that contains data from their child's progress and that it should be looked at, discussed, signed, and returned back to school by the end of the week. They are always free to jot additional comments too!

While many examples of data folders can range from one or two pages, others can be extreme, consisting of 10-20 pages. Personally, I prefer to keep my data folders at about 5-6 pages max, with a cover sheet, a parent signature sheet, 2-3 graphs, and a student reflection page. Inserting a printout of the child's current grades form your gradebook is always easy and handy too! Creating your class set of data folders may be easier than you think!
Setting Up Your Data Folders
* Begin by purchasing a class set of two-pocket folders that have brads in the center (this is very important). Make sure all the folders are the same color, as this will make the management of passing out and turning in that much easier for you. Look for 1- or 5-cent folder deals during the back-to-school sales in August to get your class sets and always have additional folders on hand for lost or damaged folders, or new students that will need one as well.

* Next, create and print out shipping labels with "Data Folder" as the title, and maybe add some clip art, if you prefer. Make additional labels that have each child's name on it. Place the title label in the center of your folder, and the name label in the upper right corner.
Create Your Data Folder Content
* Inside the data folder, I create a welcome page for the parent, which explains that the data folders will be sent home every other week, and will need a parent signature upon returning to class. After the cover page, I then create an additional template, which has a column of blank lines to input the date, and a column of blank lines for a parent signature. Keep it very simple and you will find the best results.

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* I create graphs from a simple grid template for the students to track progress. I like to use one bar graph style, and one line graph style. This not only helps students to see their progress, but also to practice graphing skills for a real-life application! I usually choose two graphs from the following: spelling scores, Accelerated Reader stats, math test scores, math facts learned, or homework returned. Whatever you feel is most important for your parents and students to be made aware of are the best choices for your data graphs. Stick to your top two or three so that it does not become overwhelming.

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* Finally, the last page in the data folder is a student reflection sheet in which the student must fill in the date, and one thing that he or she was proud of since the last update, as well as one thing he or she feels can be worked on. This reflection piece is one of the most important in the process because students begin to see that grades are not given by the teacher, but rather earned by themselves.

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Holding Students Accountable
Data folders are simple to get started, and if maintained every two weeks, do not consume valuable teaching time. Parents will comment on how they feel more in tune with progress being made in your class, and students will have an opportunity to reflect and improve their effort based on their reflections in the data folder. All in all, data folders are a win-win for everyone!
How could you use data folders in your classroom? Share it in the comments section!
Charity L. Preston, MA is an author, teacher, and parent. Most importantly, she is an educator in all roles. The ability to teach someone something new is a gift that few truly appreciate. Visit her now at http://www.theorganizedclassroomblog.com or at her Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/TheOrganizedClassroomBlog to sign up for a free newsletter that offers free downloadable classroom resources every month delivered right to your inbox!

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Do you have parents who claim they feel "out of the loop" when asked about their child's progress? Sometimes, I used to get an angry call when interim report cards came out because parents didn't understand why their child had earned a "C."

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Teaching Strategy; Activity for Class Discussion  

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Teaching Strategy; Activity for Class Discussion  

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Use this discussion strategy to help students practice being contributors and listeners in a group conversation.