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BLENDING TRAINS: Smooth Blending & Word Reading

This FREEBIE is part of my full 76 page full-product download. To access the full BLENDING TRAINS resource, click on the link below or keep reading to hear the highlights...

BLENDING TRAINS Smooth Blending & Word Reading Kit
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Blending Trains were created and intended to help students with the following skills:

*Blend words smoothly while reading
*Increase reading fluency
*Improve overal phonics skills
*Build phonological awareness by blending sounds into words
*Encourage students in better understanding the concept of the alphabetic principle in decoding / reading and spelling

These activities are great for introducing smooth blending, small group instruction, RTI reading intervention groups, guided reading focus lesson, and independent practice.

There are three different levels of support with the Blending Trains. You will easily be able to meet the needs of all of your students.

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Included in the Blending Trains KIT:

** Answers to your questions about smoothly blending while reading
** Additional activities, tips, and interventions for students that are not making acceptable progress
** 162 total Blending Trains with 3 levels of reading support
*Version 1: Blending Train with word
*Version 2: Blending Train with word and picture support
*Version 3: Blending Train with picture support and no words (phonemic awareness skill)
** Blending Train Word List (4 versions)
** Blending Train handout for students that are ready to move to the next step
** Blending Train printable COLOR VERSION for adding to a literacy station and is an added piece of ACCOUNTABILITY

This Kit comes in the format of PDF and there are 76 pages including the covers and final pages.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns with this product. juststylemejen@gmail.com

I would LOVE for you to visit my blog for additional learning activities and strategies:

Best Wishes!
jen
juststylemejen@gmail.com

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Blending Sounds FREEBIE ~ Blending Trains ~ Word Reading ~ Phonics RTI

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BLENDING TRAINS: Smooth Blending & Word Reading This FREEBIE is part of my full 76 page full-product download. To access the full BLENDING TRAINS resource, click on the link below or keep reading to hear the highlights... BLENDING TRAINS Smooth Blending & Word Reading Kit **************...

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Learning to read can be quite an overwhelming task for small children. In fact, if you think about it, it's astounding that children are even capable of learning to read in such a short amount of time. However, before they begin to read print, they must have an adequate foundational understanding of how sounds in words work. That is where phonemic awareness comes into play.

What is phonemic awareness?

In easy-to-understand terms, phonemic awareness is the ability to identify, think about, and manipulate sounds in spoken speech. This is NOT the same as phonics. Phonemic awareness is actually a critical skill that is a precursor to reading letters. That's why phonemic awareness instruction should NEVER involve print. If you find yourself working with letters or printed words, then you have skipped a step and crossed the line into phonics. This is a very important point. Research tells us that it's essential to focus on phonemic awareness in the classroom before reading can begin. We want to ensure that children have a solid understanding of the sounds of speech before we start phonics instruction.

Nowadays, we are facing an added difficulty, though. In today's early-childhood classrooms, teachers are feeling an ever-increasing pressure to get their students reading. It is easy to lose sight of the developmental process and try to skip steps in order to get our kids reading books as soon as possible. There is just one problem: skipping steps is not going to work. Children's progress in reading will be limited if they haven't learned to think about the sounds in words.

As early childhood teachers, we need to remember that we can't skip past phonemic awareness skills. We can't just barge ahead in the hope that all of our students have arrived in our classroom complete with the full-blown skills of thinking about and manipulating sounds in their minds. On the other hand, we also can't afford to spend a lot of time doing phonemic-awareness instruction. I am happy to tell you the good news that we don't have to! Phonemic awareness instruction can and should be done in small pockets of time throughout the school day. In fact, oral language and phonemic awareness can often be taught and reinforced in as little as five to ten minutes per day.

Here are five quick, easy, and fun phonemic awareness activities that are perfect for the beginning of the school year in any early childhood classroom. Yes, you heard me correctly - that word was F-U-N. I know fun has become an undesirable notion in many schools today. But I assure you that these activities will be fun and that your students really will learn about our amazing language! I have also included activities that require little or no preparation - things you can do on the fly! Although these activities don't cover the full range of phonemic awareness skills needed to produce great readers, they are still fantastic activities to begin any school year!

Listening

The ability to listen closely is a key ingredient of phonemic awareness. This is the part of instruction that is skipped most often, because teachers assume that young children know how to listen. They may not! Furthermore, if they don't, they're not ignoring you. It's just that they don't understand what "listen closely" means. They have to be taught.

The Listening Game.

One of the first phonemic-awareness activities I do with my students, even as soon as the first day, is to bring their attention to noises. After lunch, we come back to the classroom and all the children lie quietly on the floor. It's not naptime, but it's a great time to unwind, which is important for young children. As we lie there quietly for five to ten minutes, we listen for sounds. We all stay perfectly still and quiet. We become "sound spotters." We don't use our eyes - we use our ears. There are always sounds and weird noises you can hear in a school building. We may hear the air conditioner, doors closing, teachers talking, stomachs growling. The possibilities are endless! Your part is to talk about the sounds you and the children hear. Use a little teacher enthusiasm and exaggeration to get the kids interested in this activity. The key phrase is, "Who can spot a sound with their ears?"

"Moo-Moo," Where Are You?

I love playing this game with my class. The kids have a ball, too. In fact, they simply think we are playing.

How to play: All the children sit in a circle. One child lies down in the middle of the circle and covers his or her eyes. The teacher chooses another child to go somewhere in the room and pretend to be a cow by making a "moo-moo" sound. The child in the middle of the circle - with eyes still covered - points in the direction of the animal sound. This game is great because it gets children to listen closely for sounds and for where the sounds are coming from. It also prepares their ears to listen more closely to sounds in words. When the child in the middle correctly identifies the sound and direction, he or she gets to go next and make a different animal sound.

Rhyming

Rhyming is such a great phonemic awareness activity! Most children easily grasp the concept of rhyme. Some need a little help, though. Using word-play with rhyming helps children notice that sounds in our language have meaning and follow certain patterns. Again, this is a precursor skill to seeing sound patterns reproduced in print - as a phonemic awareness practice, it is purely auditory.

The absolute best way to introduce rhyming to your students is by reading lots of fun rhyming books, poems, and songs. Act silly and have fun! The more fun you have with the rhymes, the more the kids will notice the rhymes and enjoy the activities. Exaggerate the silliness of the rhyme. The poem "Down By the Bay" and the book "Silly Sally" are perfect examples of how rhyme can be super fun!

In My Box

This game is great to use after your students have at least some understanding of how rhyming works. That means you have already read lots of rhyming books, poems, and songs and played with those rhyming words.

How to play: Get a small box and place some pictures in it with pairs of familiar words that rhyme (like box/socks, cat/hat, or chair/bear). Use enough pictures so that everyone in your class has a turn. Sit in a circle with your students. Start with a child you know is strong in rhyming. Hold the box and choose a picture. If the picture shows a cat, say "In my box, there's a cat". Call on him or her to come up with a rhyming word. The child might say, "In my box, there's a hat" (or some other rhyming word). After he or she answers with a rhyming word, hand him or her the box. Now he or she gets to choose a card and continue the play.

Syllables

Working with and noticing syllables within words is important, because it makes students aware of how words can be split up into smaller parts, according to their sounds. Our ultimate goal is to work on individual phonemes (vowels or consonants), but children must first learn the concept of "parts of words." It's easier for young children to start with larger parts of words and then work their way down to the smaller, discrete individual sounds of phonemes. We are building a bridge from hearing words to hearing phonemes.

Bippity Boppity Bumble Bee

This is such a fun game. You get the kids clapping out names, first. As they get used to the game, you can start using other words with more syllables.

How to play: Sit in a circle with your students. I have a little stuffed bee that the kids love to hold. You could also use a printable bumble bee. The teacher begins the chant and walks around to a child:

Teacher: "Bippity Boppity Bumble Bee, Will You Say Your Name For Me?"

The child responds, "Jennifer."

Teacher: " Let's all say it." And the class says her name out loud, while clapping once for each syllable.

Teacher: "Let's all whisper it." And the class whispers her name, while quiet-clapping the syllables again, once per syllable.

Teacher and class: "Bippity Boppity Bumble Bee, Thank You For Saying Your Name For Me!"

Repeat with another student and his/her name. As students become familiar with the game, you can allow students to take on the "teacher" role.

Old MacDonald

Here is another great game that you can use to give the students practice in listening to syllables and putting them together into words. It follows the pattern of the song, Old MacDonald. By the time I use this activity with my class, we have read and sung Old MacDonald hundreds of times, so the song is well-known to the students.

How to play: The teacher begins by telling the students they are going to learn a new game - it's a different version of Old MacDonald, and it's kind of a silly version. The teacher begins singing, "Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O. And on that farm he had a /ti/ /ger/, E-I-E-I-O". Of course, the kids think the introduction of the tiger is wildly funny, but notice what they have actually done: Without being told, they have mentally combined the syllables /ti/ and /ger/ to realize what the animal was! It's huge! Then I show the children a picture of a tiger and they feel proud that they figured out the animal - and they think it's too funny! Again it's lots of fun, and they really think we are just playing a game.

The most important thing to keep in mind as an early childhood teacher is that phonemic awareness can be such a fun time! It shouldn't be long drawn-out lessons. All you need is five-to-ten-minute pockets of time each day. Phonemic awareness activities are also great to use during transition times throughout the day. I often use the ten minutes before lunch, and sometimes during group restroom breaks, to practice and reinforce listening and oral language skills. And the payoff is big! If you give phonemic awareness the attention it deserves, your students will be richly rewarded when it's time for them to start reading!

So now you know some of my secrets - the teaching games I use myself! I've had success with them, so I'm sure that if you make them your own, not only will you have fun with them in your classroom, but your students, too, will have an easier time with reading and go further faster!

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5 Quick, Easy, and Fun Phonemic Awareness Activities

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Learning to read can be quite an overwhelming task for small children. In fact, if you think about it, it's astounding that children are even capable of learning to read in such a short amount of time. However, before they begin to read print, they must have an adequate foundational understanding of how sounds in words work.

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This is a free NO PREP set of PowerPoint Slides that offer five days of word study intervention lessons focused on phonics, phonemic awareness, and sight words!
This set is for Days 1-5. Try this week's worth of lessons for FREE!

These PowerPoint slides are also included as part of the 100 Days of Phonics Intervention! Find the entire bundle HERE!
Days 1-5 Routine:

Sound Chant

Sight Word Body Spelling

Sight Word Showdown

Phonemic Awareness Focus: Do They Rhyme?

Beginning Sounds (answer verbally or use whiteboards)

Free Time (optional)

Support Materials include full instructions and an one-page overview of the week!

All you need to do for preparation is open the PowerPoint for each day!

You can REORDER, DUPLICATE, or DELETE any of the secured slides to customize for your students!

Do you already own the Phonics PowerPoints Bundle? ALL the slides are designed to be MIX and MATCH!
Please follow my store for more updates.
Thank you for stopping by!

Copyright © Positively Learning. All rights reserved by author. This product is to be used by the original downloader only. Copying for more than one user is prohibited. This product may not be distributed or displayed digitally for public view. Failure to comply is a copyright infringement and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Clipart and elements found in this PDF are copyrighted and cannot be extracted and used outside of this file without permission or license. See product file for clip-art and font credits.

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100 Days of Phonics Intervention Days 1-5

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This is a free NO PREP set of PowerPoint Slides that offer five days of word study intervention lessons focused on phonics, phonemic awareness, and sight words!This set is for Days 1-5. Try this week's worth of lessons for FREE! These PowerPoint slides are also included as part of the 100 Days of Ph...

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Your students will get some excellent practice with those tricky consonant blends with this super fun bingo game.

There are 20 DIFFERENT BINGO CARDS included, and a sheet of calling cards to cut apart.

Simple print out the bingo cards. Either print on card stock and laminate, then grab some counters to use as markers, or you can print out copies on paper and give students some colorful daubers to use. Optional links for purchasing counters or daubers are included.

Students will get great practice reading consonant blends!

This activity is perfect for a whole reading group, a small guided reading group, a literacy reteaching group, literacy intervention, parent volunteer group, or literacy centers. So many options!

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Your students will get some excellent practice with those tricky consonant blends with this super fun bingo game.There are 20 DIFFERENT BINGO CARDS included, and a sheet of calling cards to cut apart. Simple print out the bingo cards. Either print on card stock and laminate, then grab some counter...

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Common Classroom Accommodations and Modifications | Understood

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Refer to this checklist of common modifications and accommodations to get to know options for struggling students.

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Working with Children with Special Needs

It is inevitable that you will have the opportunity (and pleasure) of working with special needs students in your classroom. You may need to make accommodations for some and modifications for others. Providing for the needs of special education students will certainly be one of your greatest challenges as a professional educator. Consider these tips and strategies.

Jabberwocky

When working with special needs students, two terms you are sure to encounter are accommodation and modification. An accommodation is a device, material, or support process that will enable a student to accomplish a task more efficiently. Modification refers to changes to the instructional outcomes; a change or decrease in the course content or outcome.

Students with Learning Disabilities

Learning disabled students are those who demonstrate a significant discrepancy, which is not the result of some other handicap, between academic achievement and intellectual abilities in one or more of the areas of oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skills, reading comprehension, mathematical calculation, mathematics reasoning, or spelling.

Following is a list of some of the common indicators of learning-disabled students. These traits are usually not isolated ones; rather, they appear in varying degrees and amounts in most learning-disabled students. A learning disabled student ...

Teaching learning-disabled youngsters will present you with some unique and distinctive challenges. Not only will these students demand more of your full-time and patience; but so, too, will they require specialized instructional strategies in a structured environment that supports and enhances their learning potential. It is important to remember that learning-disabled students are not students who are incapacitated or unable to learn; rather, they need differentiated instruction tailored to their distinctive learning abilities. Use these appropriate strategies with learning-disabled students:

It's Elementary

Offer learning-disabled children and students with developmental delays a multisensory approach to learning. Take advantage of all the senses in helping these students enjoy, appreciate, and learn.

For additional information on teaching learning-disabled students, contact the Learning Disabilities Association of America at 4156 Library Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15234; 412-341-1515; www.ldanatl.org.

Students Who Have Higher Ability

Students of high ability, often referred to as gifted students, present a unique challenge to teachers. They are often the first ones done with an assignment or those who continually ask for more creative and interesting work. They need exciting activities and energizing projects that offer a creative curriculum within the framework of the regular classroom program.

Characteristics of Gifted Students

Gifted students exhibit several common characteristics, as outlined in the following list. As in the case of learning-disabled students, giftedness usually means a combination of factors in varying degrees and amounts. A gifted student ...

Teaching Gifted Students

If there's one constant about gifted students it's the fact that they're full of questions (and full of answers). They're also imbued with a sense of inquisitiveness. Providing for their instructional needs is not an easy task and will certainly extend you to the full limits of your own creativity and inventiveness. Keep some of these instructional strategies in mind:

To obtain additional information on teaching gifted students, contact the National Association for Gifted Children at 1707 L Street N.W., Suite 550, Washington, D.C. 20036; 202-785-4268; www.nagc.org.

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Prepare to teach the students with special needs you may have in your classroom using this advice on accommodating and modifying your lessons to meet the needs of everyone. New teachers will find this resource particularly valuable.

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Knowing vocabulary words is key to reading comprehension. The more words a child knows, the better he or she will understand the text. Using a variety of effective teaching methods will increase the student’s ability to learn new words.

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Being able to speak English fluently is critical to our ELLs' success both inside and outside the classroom. ELLs must pass a speaking portion of a language proficiency assessment to score out of ESOL services and be fully immersed in mainstream classes without support.

We always see a number of students, from every cultural background, who are too shy to speak up in the classroom or to answer a question, even when they have the answer. These strategies help all students improve their language development in a supportive, encouraging way. At the end of the list are some strategies specific to helping ELLs acquire and use oral language.

Model language by saying aloud and writing the ideas and concepts you're teaching.

Model what a fluent reader sounds like through focused read-alouds.

Be explicit. Give each activity you do a name, the simplest and most accurate name that you can, and then repeat the activity, so students can learn the verbal and written cues and procedures.

Tell students what they are learning about each day and whether they will be reading, writing, listening, or speaking.

Make expectations clear for behavior, written assignments, independent practice, and group work. Write key expectations on a chart and keep the chart posted for reference.Use a rubric whenever possible to help students evaluate their behavior and work.

Have students retell stories aloud. Record their retellings in their own words to create a language experience chart that can be used for future reading and writing lessons with this group.

Teach choral speaking and reading (poetry may be the most accessible format with which to begin).

Sing or read songs. Children can bring in a favorite song to perform alone or as a group, but make sure you have heard the song first and can approve it.

Have students read and perform Readers Theater scripts.

Practice dictation, especially for learning spelling. Allow students to take turns dictating, too. Use full sentences for contextualizing the spelling words.

Experiment with speaking and writing in different tenses and using different types of expressive language. For example, say the same word or phrase using a tone that is happy, sad, angry, and so forth. Use facial expressions-a smile, frown, or quizzical look-to embed more meaning in your speech. For beginners, hold up picture cards showing expressive faces and have them act out these expressions.

Explain by showing, not just telling. Act it out if you have to or use visual tools such as sketches and diagrams or actual objects.

Correct content, not grammar. To model proper grammar and syntax, restate or rephrase students' questions or statements. You can do this in writing too.

Student: I put mines pencil on that desk.
Teacher: I put my pencil on that desk, too.
OR
Student: Who go to bring lunch count today?
Teacher: Hmmm, let's see . . . Who is going to bring the lunch count to the office today?

To express proper intonation and pitch, be aware that you modulate your voice, make adjustments in tone, and use a range of pitch with everything you say to your students. We do this naturally anyway; for example, our voices rise at the end of a question.

When asking questions, give choices for the answer. This will also help you check for understanding especially in the earlier stages of language acquisition. For example, ask, "Would you like pizza or a bagel for lunch?" Or, after reading a story, ask, "Did the first pig build his house of bricks or straw?"

Respond to the interests of the children. Provide reading, speaking, listening, and writing
activities and opportunities in which students can share their hobbies and interests.

Encourage students to describe, summarize, define, contrast, and compare by modeling. Be sure to show and not just tell when teaching a new concept, idea, or vocabulary.

Be your own glossary. If you use an unfamiliar word, define it for the class as part of your lesson.

Don't assume that students truly understand the subject being discussed just because they are nodding and even answering your questions. Monitor what you say to make sure that they understand. When in doubt, ask the class to restate the directions you've given or the ideas you've presented.

Ask students to give multiple meanings of a particular word or tell whether it can be labeled a verb or a noun. This will help students sharpen their grammar skills and place ideas in the context of your discussion.

Develop vocabulary over time, in different learning contexts-use the target words in large and small groups and one-on-one formats. Post vocabulary words in the room on chart paper.

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Teaching ELL: Speaking Strategies | Scholastic

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Being able to speak English fluently is critical to our ELLs' success both inside and outside the classroom. ELLs must pass a speaking portion of a language proficiency assessment to score out of ESOL services and be fully immersed in mainstream classes without support.

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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.2
Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.2.B
Orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant blends.

Students should be able to count, tap, blend, or segment a word in syllables.

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By the end of first grade, your child should be able to do the following tasks in each area.

Listening

Remember what they hear.

Follow two- to three-step directions in a row.

Speaking

Speak clearly so that anyone can understand them.

Answer harder yes/no questions.

Tell and retell stories that make sense.

Share their ideas using complete sentences.

Use most parts of speech, or grammar, correctly.

Ask and answer who, what, when, where, and why questions.

Stay on topic and take turns in conversation.

Give directions.

Start conversations.

Reading

Say words that rhyme.

Name all sounds in short words.

Put sounds together to make words.

Match spoken words with written words.

Point to letters, words, and sentences.

Sound out words when reading.

Read 100 common words by sight.

Read grade-level books.

Understand what they read.

Writing

Write about their ideas.

Print clearly.

Spell words that they use a lot.

Begin each sentence with capital letters. End sentences with periods or question marks.

Write stories, journal entries, or notes.

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By the end of first grade, your child should be able to do the following tasks in each area.

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Being able to talk and express your thoughts clearly is vital in life. Yet, too many students are graduating without sufficient experience with group discussions, or arguing their ideas effectively, and they are finding themselves unprepared for the communication demands of college and their careers.

How can we prepare our students for these rigors?

To lay a better foundation for this learning, we can do a few things: we can value oral language development, we can value communication of ideas over grammatical correctness, and we can value oral language as a powerful way to learn and remember content.

Here are three strategies to help develop oral language skills.

Strategy One: Adapt Activities to Include Authentic Talk

Adapting current activities to include more authentic, original, and extended discussions gives students opportunities to contribute more than one sentence to a conversation. Sometimes, we miss the opportunity to encourage language development. For example, many teachers use some form of a jigsaw activity, in which students get into expert groups, read a text, and answer questions or fill in charts. They then go to mixed home groups to share their information. Yet, often what happens is this: students just read aloud what another student has copied from a resource -- and opportunities for oral language development are lost.

To improve this strategy, you can have the experts engage in a discussion of what to put, in their own words, onto paper. Then, they can rehearse what they'll say - covering their papers to avoid reading aloud. Then in home groups, you can have each person glance at their notes, cover them again, and share with the group members, who listen and take notes. You can even ask students to try to speak in paragraphs, starting with a general claim or topic sentence, and then support it with evidence sentences. For example, in this video, notice how the talk evolves as students prepare their ideas for sharing.

Strategy Two: Use Activities that Develop Strong Language

Use activities that allow students to develop a "stronger and clearer" answer, as they talk to different partners successively in an activity. Instead of the all-too-common whole class discussion, with the teacher asking questions and a few students answering, ask a question and have students talk to three different partners. Or have students talk in different groups (see this 1-3-6 activity video).

A crucial aspect of this strategy is that students shouldn't say the same thing each time; rather, they need to build on the language and ideas of previous partner(s) to improve, expand, clarify, and support their evolving answer each time they share it.

Example Activities (from Zwiers, O'Hara, Pritchard, 2014):

Interview Grid: Students talk with one different partner each time, making their answers stronger and clearer each time, taking minimal, if any, notes on the chart. Note that this activity can also work using inner-outer conversation circles, such as the one in this Debrief Circles video.

Opinion Formation Cards: Students receive a quotation from the text (before it's read) that includes evidence for one side or the other of an issue. Students share their quotations and their evolving opinions, with reasons and evidence for them.

Opinion Continuum: Students share where they fall on the continuum of a two-sided issue and why. At the end, they share if they shifted at all along the continuum based on their conversations with partners.

Strategy Three: Use Strong Discussion Prompts

Try to use discussion prompts that foster evaluation in some way. Evaluation is usually needed for ranking, prioritizing, and choosing. For example, if you ask for evidence of a theme or a claim, many students just find the first three remotely evidence-y things they can, and stop there. But if you prompt students to rank the evidence from strongest to weakest, or to find the most influential cause of some war, you can often get deeper thinking and better conversation.

For instance, I was talking with a teacher who was asking this question, "How did the Civil War affect the families in the South?" I encouraged her to simply add "most affect" to force students to evaluate and discuss their opinions. When students evaluate, their ideas often differ. And if you allow them time to argue and negotiate the ideas, lots of learning can happen.

Jeff Zwiers is a senior researcher at Stanford University, working on the Understanding Language project and focusing on research and professional development projects that emphasize oral language development. His most recent book (co-authored with Susan O'Hara and Robert Pritchard) is Common Core Standards in Diverse Classrooms: Essential Practices for Developing Academic Language and Literacy. He can be reached at jzwiers@stanford.edu.
Understanding Language aims to heighten educator awareness of the critical role that language plays in the new Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards, and to improve education for English Language Learners.

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Key Strategies for Developing Oral Language

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Being able to talk and express your thoughts clearly is vital in life. Yet, too many students are graduating without sufficient experience with group discussions, or arguing their ideas effectively, and they are finding themselves unprepared for the communication demands of college and their careers. How can we prepare our students for these rigors?

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Young Children's Oral Language Development

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The development of oral language is one of the child's most natural - and impressive - accomplishments. Get an introduction to when and how language is learned.

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Language skills and literacy achievement are highly correlated. The Report of the National Early Literacy Panel (Lonigan & Shanahan, 2008) found that oral language - the ability to produce or comprehend spoken language, including vocabulary and grammar - is correlated with later literacy achievement. The more children know about language, the better equipped they are to succeed in reading and writing.

Furthermore, the language children are exposed to at home and in school influences the development of their language comprehension. This, in turn, influences their ability to develop reading and writing skills. Language development in the preschool years is relevant to the later teaching of reading and writing, especially in the primary grades.

The level of language proficiency children bring to kindergarten is varied and depends on how much exposure to oral language they have had prior to entering school. Seminal research conducted by Hart and Risley (1995) and replicated by others Fernald, Marchman & Weisleder (2013) determined that there are large discrepancies in oral language development and the gap between language-advanced and language-delayed children grows throughout the elementary years (Biemiller, 2001). All students, but especially those with limited language exposure, benefit from classroom instruction that is designed to accelerate language learning and growth in the use of academic language.

Academic language includes academic vocabulary (more formal words typically associated with content learned in school) and syntactic awareness (the ability to recognize and use the correct arrangement of words in sentences typically found in the formal text used in school). If primary grade teachers are planful and purposeful about incorporating language-development activities, they can play an important role in closing the language gap before students move beyond grade 3.
Teach Listening Skills
It is important to teach students about receptive language. Specifically, they need to understand that the goal of using receptive language is not just "hearing" what someone is saying, but also "listening and thinking" about what they are saying. Consider using the visuals below to illustrate the difference for students.

Here are some suggestions for teaching speaking and listening skills:

Explicitly teach students how to be good listeners, including role-playing.

Encourage students to make eye contact with the speaker when listening.

Teach students to be aware of non-verbal communication while listening.

Teach students to take turns and not interrupt while listening.

Teach students to ask questions to clarify understanding.

Model good listening skills by genuinely listening to your students.

Promote active listening to solve conflicts.

Provide conversation centers in the classroom that encourage conversation and attentive listening.

Conduct games in which you call out directions and instructions for students to follow such as Follow the Leader and Simon Says.

Play The Whisper Chain game: whisper an action message to the first student, then each student passes the message around a circle; the last student performs the action.

Provide access to audiobooks.

The "Listening Ladder" is a helpful tool for reminding students how to be a good listener (see below).
Model Challenging Academic Language
How teachers talk with children is important! To help students develop strong oral language skills, it is important for teachers to be sure that their language interactions give practice with the following:

Hearing and using rich and abstract vocabulary

Hearing and using increasingly complex sentences

Using words to express ideas and to ask questions about things they don't understand

Academic language is:

the language used in the classroom

the language of text

the language of assessments

the language of academic success

As models of academic language for young students, teachers should speak with precision and correctness. Teachers must be conscious of their own language in the classroom, being careful not to "dumb down" the way they speak by purposely using basic vocabulary and simple sentences. Likewise, teachers should encourage students to use precise and extended language.

Here are some suggestions for modeling and encouraging use of academic language:

Set high expectations for language use for yourself and students, including use of challenging vocabulary and sentence structure.

Use sophisticated words when talking with students to expand their vocabularies.

Expand and recast students' utterances.

Draw students' attention to fluctuations in speech rate and words that are stressed depending on the situation (e.g., giving directions, being funny, being upset about something).

Emphasize intonation and model appropriate stress patterns when speaking.

Emphasize punctuation use when reading aloud.

Ask students to restate or paraphrase what others have said.

Model for students how to extend answers to questions and ask them to do the same.

Ask yourself these questions to help make sure you are supporting academic language:

Is my curriculum and classroom environment rich in print, literature, and language?

Do I provide time for children to look, listen, and talk about books?

Do I integrate writing, speaking, listening, and reading into all content areas?

Do I encourage students to talk and write about personal experiences and ideas?

This blog entry is excerpted from the book Keys to Early Writing by Joan Sedita. To order the book or take the related online training course, visit the Keys to Literacy website.

References:

Biemiller, A. (2001). Language and reading success. Newton Upper Falls, MA: Brookline Books

Fernald, A., Marchman, V. A., & Weisleder, A. (2013). SES differences in language processing skill and vocabulary are evident at 18 months. Developmental Science (16) 2, pp. 234-248.

Hart, B., & T.R. Risley. (1995). Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children. Baltimore: Brookes

Lonigan, C. & Shanahan, T. (2008). Developing early literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.

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Fostering Academic Language Development in Primary Grades - Keys to Literacy

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Language skills and literacy achievement are highly correlated. The Report of the National Early Literacy Panel (Lonigan & Shanahan, 2008) found that oral language - the ability to produce or comprehend spoken language, including vocabulary and grammar - is correlated with later literacy achievement.

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GrapeSEED: Accelerated English Language Acquisition Program

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Kids can't learn what they can't understand. Oral language proficiency is the foundation for academic success, providing a bridge to reading and writing for English Learning (EL) and English Language Proficiency (ELP) students. Give children a confident voice, turning them into eager learners and social participants.

Watch our webinar presentation and hear how GrapeSEED accelerates English language acquisition and closes the achievement gap.

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Empower Children to Overcome Language Barriers | GrapeSEED

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Kids can't learn what they can't understand. Oral language proficiency is the foundation for academic success, providing a bridge to reading and writing for English Learning (EL) and English Language Proficiency (ELP) students. Give children a confident voice, turning them into eager learners and social participants.

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Oral language often takes a backseat to other subjects in the curriculum. We do curriculum mapping to make sure we cover all of the reading, writing, and math standards for our students, but how often do we map out a plan for addressing oral language skills? In my state, Illinois, we use the Common Core Standards, and I have to admit that I almost always look at the other literacy standards and only infrequently glance at the "Speaking and Listening" standards.
But guess what? THIS IS NOT GOOD!! Recently, I've had the opportunity to participate in some professional development and learn more about students' oral language and literacy development. I want to share what I've learned so far with you, because oral language development is definitely something worth paying attention to - whether you teach ELLs or students whose first language is English. Read on for some of the facts that I've learned about how students' oral language affects their literacy development, as well as some tips to help develop your students' oral language.

1. Oral language is one of the most powerful tools young children have to help them learn about the world. As babies and toddlers learn to understand and produce language, their knowledge about the world around them grows exponentially. For example, they may first call all small pets "dogs," only later learning about the categories of "dog" and "cat." When students begin school at the age of 5, their oral language development is far from finished. If we don't allow our students opportunities to grow their oral language, we are impeding their learning. Which leads me to...

2. Oral language develops through use. We can talk all day until we are blue in the face, but students' oral language will only develop when they have opportunities to use it. That means we gotta let 'em talk!

3. There are ways we can assess students' oral language development. One 3-minute assessment I was recently introduced to is an Oral Language Assessment by Mondo. Click { here} to download the assessment for free (scroll down to where it says "Let's Talk About It! Oral Language Assessment"). In this assessment, you say aloud sentences of varying lengths, and students have to repeat back the sentences to you (one at a time). Students are supposed to be able to correctly repeat back at least 14 of the 15 sentences by the middle of first grade. But...

4. Many struggling readers also struggle with oral language. If you give the assessment that I linked to above to struggling readers (even those in 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade), they will likely not achieve the score that a 1st grader is supposed to have achieved. Eek! If you transcribe what a child has repeated back to you during the assessment, you can look for patterns. Is the child missing verb phrases? Subjects? Pronouns? Prepositions? These gaps will also show up in the child's reading and writing.

5. Listening comprehension precedes reading comprehension. If a student can't repeat back what you said during the assessment, then they will likely not comprehend the same sentence in text, EVEN if they can decode it. Let's take a look at this sentence from the assessment:

This sentence might seem pretty simple at first glance. But it contains all of the following ideas: T: Great! You could say,
- There was a car
- There was also a truck
- The car and the truck were carrying some boxes
- The boxes that they were carrying were large
If a child cannot repeat back the sentence exactly as it is spoken, he/she likely does not grasp all of those individual ideas that make up the sentence. Missing many small details like this adds up to poor reading comprehension and inferential thinking.

I feel like I'm sharing lots of bad news here!! And, honestly, poor oral language development can be really bad news for students when it comes to their literacy development. However, there ARE things that we can do to support students' oral language development. Here are a few ideas:

6. Oral language ability impacts students' writing. Do you have any students whose writing consists of one big run-on sentence, a bunch of thoughts connected by "and," "and," "and?" They likely sound the same way when they talk.
Kids need to feel comfortable talking about non-academic topics before they will take risks when talking about their learning. Low-risk activities can take the form of having students share about their activities over the weekend or asking them to talk to each other about what they see in a funny/strange picture. During these "practice sessions," act as a participant or observer in the conversation, rather than bombarding kids with questions. Encourage kids to use specific vocabulary words during the discussion. - Simplify directions given orally. Students who struggle with listening comprehension / oral language likely will not be able to understand or follow directions that are include lots of clauses, prepositional phrases, etc. You can't stop giving multi-step directions just because you have students who struggle with their oral language. You can, however, give those directions in simple language, one step at a time, with pauses in between.
- Have students engage in "turn and talks" (think-pair-shares) every 4-5 minutes. This sounded like a lot to me, but again, oral language develops through use - kids need to talk about what they are learning!
T: Where did you go this weekend? - Provide low-risk opportunities for kids to practice talking.
C: The park.
T: Oh, you went to the park? What did you do there?
C: Played on the swings. - Help students extend their oral language with prompting. Here's a sample conversation between a child (C) and teacher (T):
T: Ah, you played on the swings. Who did you play with?
C: My brother!

C & T: I went to the park and played on the swings with my brother.
T: Let's say that again.
C & T: I went to the park and played on the swings with my brother.
T: One more time, what was that sentence?
C: I went to the park and played on the swings with my brother.
T: Great job!
Of course, you're not always going to have time to have these conversations one-on-one with all of your students - but when you do have the opportunity, you can work to help your kids come up with more complex sentences. I went to the park and played on the swings with my brother. Can you say that with me?
can "hold onto" before they write anything down. - Have students talk before they write. Not only does this develop students' oral language, but it also helps improve students' writing. Have students tell a partner a story before writing it, or the first few sentences they plan to put down on paper when responding to a story. Young kids need to repeat each sentence a few times before they write it. If they can't say the sentence they want to write a few times (without errors), then work on having them come up with a sentence that they

- Put kids who struggle with oral language and comprehension into simpler texts. Even if a child can decode at, say, a level M, if they struggle with oral language and comprehension, try them at a level K. Help them understand what it feels like to be successful with comprehending text and making inferences. Then, you can gradually work up to texts with more complex language.

One of my "teacher resolutions" for the new year is to give my students more opportunities to develop their oral language. My time with them is short, since I teach intervention groups, but as our presenter put it, we don't have time not to address oral language.

Do you plan on trying out any of these ideas? Or do you have a fun activity to develop students' oral language? Comment below!
Happy teaching!
References
Mullins, C. (Presenter) (2014, December 15). Oral Language Development.

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Children's Oral Language & Literacy Development - Learning at the Primary Pond

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Oral language often takes a backseat to other subjects in the curriculum. We do curriculum mapping to make sure we cover all of the reading, writing, and math standards for our students, but how often do we map out a plan for addressing oral language skills?

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Build a Sentence Complex Sentence Building with Picture Support Language Reading

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This page failed to load. Our development team has been informed of the issue.

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Welcome your new ELLs to school with a fun, school themed Go-cabulary game! Go-cabulary is a great activity to create a fun and comfortable setting for your ELL/ESL students to confidently practice oral language (speaking and listening comprehension) skills. This game is a favorite of my ELLs every year! Check out the preview above to get a glimpse of this fun oral language activity.

No extra materials or assembly required - just scissors to cut out the game cards :)

This resource can also be found as part of the discounted *Go-cabulary! Bundle*

What's Included:
Instructions
Notes for Differentiating & Game Variations
4 Game Boards (2 school supply vocabulary, 2 school actions vocabulary)
4 Game Card Sheets
Score Cards (2 size options)
Number Cards

This game is part of the HUGE Back to School Bundle!

You can find 10 more Go-cabulary game boards here!

More Back to School ELL Resources:
-Interactive Vocabulary Mini Books
-My Picture Dictionary with Vocabulary Activities
-Desk Name Plate for ELLs

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ESL Games and Activities: Back to School ELL Oral Language Game

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Welcome your new ELLs to school with a fun, school themed Go-cabulary game! Go-cabulary is a great activity to create a fun and comfortable setting for your ELL/ESL students to confidently practice oral language (speaking and listening comprehension) skills. This game is a favorite of my ELLs ever...

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Do you have students currently on caseload who could use some language-based activities in addition to their articulation tasks? Then welcome to ArticuLanguage!! ArticLanguage worksheets are designed to provide entertaining articulation practice by use of Dot Markers, all while incorporating language concepts!

First set = Fill in the Blank edition! Please download this FREEBIE for Prevocalic /r/, give it a try, and leave a product rating. If you like this activity for your students, be on the lookout for additional ArticuLanguage worksheets and other FREEBIES!

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Dot Marker Articulation & Language Activity Prevocalic /r/ FREEBIE!!

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Do you have students currently on caseload who could use some language-based activities in addition to their articulation tasks? Then welcome to ArticuLanguage!! ArticLanguage worksheets are designed to provide entertaining articulation practice by use of Dot Markers, all while incorporating languag...

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This is a lesson on using complete sentences to respond to questions and also reminds students to speak clearly and with fluency.
Designed with ELL students in mind, this lesson is beneficial for ALL students.
The lesson is presented in both Smartboard and PowerPoint formats and includes Lesson directions, Question cards for a student activity, and a writing worksheet. (the Question cards and Worksheet are in both Excel and PDF format)

Meets both Common Core Language Arts and Arizona English Language Proficiency Standards.

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Asking and Responding to Questions an Oral Language Activity

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This is a lesson on using complete sentences to respond to questions and also reminds students to speak clearly and with fluency. Designed with ELL students in mind, this lesson is beneficial for ALL students. The lesson is presented in both Smartboard and PowerPoint formats and includes Lesson dire...