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English Language Proficiency Standards - these are important to include in the language objectives when lesson planning and for determining which language domains are begin addressed with the lesson.

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Proficiency Level Descriptors - these are important to refer to when monitoring the progress of the English learners. They also serve as reminders of what students can do at each level of proficiency within each domain of language.

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I found this website useful because it shows what some of the GT tests are like. Before recommending students, it is helpful to know what kind of test they're going to be taking.

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2023 Edition
Try our free CogAT practice questions and answers with instant scoring.
The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) is a K-12 test assesses students' learned reasoning abilities in the three areas: Verbal, Nonverbal and Quantitative. The CogAT is often used in admissions decisions for Gifted and Accelerated school programs.

Instant Scoring in this practice test is broken down by grade level so you have a choice of doing all the questions or just the grade level that is applicable to your child.

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Take this Free CogAT Practice Test with instant scoring and breakdowns by grade level.

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Similarly to the other website linked in this section, this was really helpful to seeing what students will be taking to get into GT. I had never seen GT tests before so this is really useful to understand before going into the classroom.

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Wondering what kinds of questions your child will be asked on the NNAT (Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test) and NNAT3 (Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, Second Edition)? Here are five examples below. For additional practice, sign up for our 100 free practice questions.

IMPORTANT: While the NNAT sample questions shown on this page are representative of what your child will see on the exam, they aren't taken directly from the actual test that's being administered this year.

Sections on the NNAT test

The NNAT consists of four sections: Pattern Completion, Serial Reasoning, Reasoning by Analogy, and Spatial Visualization. Here is a description of each section to help parents better understand the test:

Pattern Completion

In the Pattern Completion section, students are presented with a geometric design or pattern with a missing piece. They must analyze the pattern and choose the correct piece from a set of options to complete it. This section measures a child's ability to recognize patterns and identify missing elements. It evaluates their attention to detail and visual discrimination skills.

Serial Reasoning

The Serial Reasoning section requires students to identify the logical sequence or pattern in a series of geometric shapes. They must determine the next shape in the sequence from a set of given options. This section tests a child's ability to understand the principles of change and continuity in a series of visual elements. It measures their sequential reasoning and inductive reasoning skills.

Reasoning by Analogy

specific relationship. They must identify the relationship between the shapes and apply the same relationship to another set of shapes to select the correct answer. This section assesses a child's ability to recognize and apply relationships and analogies between different visual elements. It evaluates their abstract reasoning and critical thinking skills.

Spatial Visualization

The Spatial Visualization section presents students with images of three-dimensional objects that have been rotated, folded, or otherwise manipulated. Students must visualize how these objects would look from different perspectives or after certain transformations and select the correct answer from a set of options. This section measures a child's spatial reasoning skills, including mental rotation, spatial manipulation and visualization abilities.

To help your child prepare for the NNAT, encourage them to practice solving nonverbal problems, puzzles and brain teasers. Familiarize them with different types of patterns and analogies, and provide opportunities for them to practice spatial visualization skills through activities like building with blocks, solving jigsaw puzzles or drawing geometric shapes. Of course practice on Testing Mom and start with the free questions below.

NNAT Sample Question #1 - Pattern Completion 1

Parent tip to tell your child: Think of this section as a game of "Spot the Difference". Have you ever seen a puzzle in your storybooks where one part of a picture is missing? It's just like that. You'll see a picture with a piece missing, and your job is to find the missing piece that completes the picture perfectly. It's like fitting the last piece into a jigsaw puzzle!

Parent, say to your child: "Look at this puzzle." Point to the empty box and say, "Something is missing." Then point to the answer choices and say, "Which of these answer choices goes here?" (Be sure to point back to the empty box when you say"here.")

NNAT Sample Question #2 - Pattern Completion 2

Parent tip to tell your child: Do you like doodling or coloring in a coloring book? You know how sometimes you start a drawing and it's not finished until you've added all the details? Well, the Pattern Completion section is a lot like that. Imagine this: you're coloring a zebra but you've only finished half of it. What does the other half look like? It would have the same stripes, right? That's exactly what you need to do in this part of the test. They show you a picture, but uh-oh, a piece of it is missing. Your job is to figure out what that missing piece looks like so that the whole picture makes sense. So it's like finishing a drawing in your coloring book. You just need to fill in the missing piece to complete the picture! Always remember, every piece has its place, just like every stripe on the zebra!

Parent, say to your child: "Look at this puzzle." Point to the empty box and say, "Something is missing." Then point to the answer choices and say, "Which of these answer choices goes here?" (Be sure to point back to the empty box when you say"here.")

NNAT Sample Question #3 - Serial Reasoning 1

Parent tip to tell your child: You know how in cartoons, each scene comes after the next in a certain order? That's what you'll be doing in this part of the test. You'll be given a series of pictures that are connected to each other in a special way, like a story. Your job is to find the next picture in the series. So it's like predicting what the next scene in a cartoon episode would be!

Parent, say to your child: "Look at this puzzle." Point to the empty box and say, "Something is missing." Then point to the answer choices and say, "Which of these answer choices goes here?" (Be sure to point back to the empty box when you say"here.")

NNAT Sample Question #4 - Reasoning by Analogy 1

Parent tip to tell your child: This section is similar to a game of "Match the Pairs". Imagine you have a pair of socks that are the same color and pattern. In this part of the test, you'll have to find a pair that's the same, just in a different way. So, if they give you two pictures and they relate to each other in a certain way, you have to find another pair of pictures that have the same relationship. It's like you're a detective finding connections!

Parent, say to your child: "Look at this puzzle." Point to the empty box and say, "Something is missing." Then point to the answer choices and say, "Which of these answer choices goes here?" (Be sure to point back to the empty box when you say "here.")

NNAT Sample Question #5 - Spatial Visualization

Parent tip to tell your child: Remember when you play with your blocks or LEGO sets and you have to imagine what it would look like if you turned it around, flipped it over, or added more pieces? That's spatial visualization. In this part of the test, you might see pictures of blocks or shapes and you'll have to imagine what they would look like if they were moved around or put together. So, it's just like playing a mental game of blocks or LEGO!

Parent, say to your child: "Look at this puzzle." Point to the empty box and say, "Something is missing." Then point to the answer choices and say, "Which of these answer choices goes here?" (Be sure to point back to the empty box when you say "here.")

Answers: 5, 3, 1, 1, 3

For additional NNAT practice questions, click the links below.
NNAT Practice Test NNAT3 Practice Questions for the Naglieri Nonverbal Abilities Test

See if TestingMom.com supports your child's test by your school district. If you don't see your child's school district listed, check with us! We have practice for other tests as well.

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NNAT Practice Test: Free Sample Questions

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Sample NNAT practice test questions to familiarize your child with the test and help them succeed on the NNAT2 or NNAT3 test.

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ESL students in SPED is a tough topic for me because I feel like I don't know if maybe it is just student nuances coming from their previous country and living situation. This slide is really helpful in giving me an idea of what to look for so I do not need this fear as much anymore.

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This slide stood out to me as helpful information that will be good to know in the classroom. I can see using this to inform instruction so that I can teach my students in the best ways possible.

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This slide was really helpful in showing what the main things you have to look out for are. It reinforces topics that I had not previously thought of and is thus something I want to remember.

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I often forget that math is not a universal language. I chose this slide because it really helps me to make sure that I am going to teach things in a way that my students will understand.

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This website is a really helpful comprehensive list of cognates. I chose this because it will help me to be able to teach with cognates.

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These glossaries are to provide permitted testing accommodations of ELL/MLL students. They should also be used for instruction during the school year. These glossaries may be downloaded, printed and disseminated to educators, parents and ELLs/MLLs.

Bilingual glossaries are an essential and expected test accommodation for ELLs/MLLs in the State of New York. The languages of these glossaries cover the top 10 languages at the state level, with new languages added based on changing language populations in the NY State student demographic data.

Schools should provide testing accommodations to ELLs/MLLs, as needed, on all NYS ELA and content-area assessments (i.e., Mathematics, Science and Social Studies). Districts/schools must make all necessary arrangements to make these accommodations available for ELLs/MLLs who need them. Please click here for the New York State Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages Webpage on "Assessment and Testing Accommodations".

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These glossaries are to provide permitted testing accommodations of ELL/MLL students. They should also be used for instruction during the school year.

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This slide is helpful as it helps make sure I know what to be careful with in Science instruction. It helps to push the important pieces that you may not think about but that EB students need more help with.

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This resource will be very helpful when creating assessments. As someone who works well off of examples it helps give me some guidelines to pay attention to when creating a summative assessment.

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This website is really helpful to know how to accommodate during summative assessments. When you are assessing you want to make sure you allow accommodations that will be allowed on state exams.

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The Texas Education Agency (TEA) defines accommodations as changes to materials or procedures that enable students to participate meaningfully in learning and testing. Accommodation policies may apply to any student taking the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR ®) or the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) depending on his or her needs and whether the student meets the eligibility criteria, as applicable.

Refer to the Accommodations section of the District and Campus Coordinator Resources for more information and additional resources.

These policies are divided into three main categories:

accessibility features-procedures and materials that should be made available to students who regularly use them during classroom instruction

locally-approved designated supports-procedures and materials that do not require TEA approval for students who meet eligibility criteria

designated supports requiring TEA Approval-procedures and materials that require the submission and approval of an Accommodation Request Form for students who meet eligibility criteria

Archive

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The Texas Education Agency (TEA) defines accommodations as changes to materials or procedures that enable students to participate meaningfully in learning and testing. Accommodation policies may apply to any student taking the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR ®) or the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) depending on his or her needs and whether the student meets the eligibility criteria, as applicable.

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This slide was informative for what you need to assess for in a formative assessment. It helps remind you of important things that you need to take into account that I likely would not think of on my own.

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This slide further instructs on what you need to do to help your EB students. These are things that I wouldn't know to look for, so I have linked them here as a reminder.

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This slide was particularly helpful as it made it more clear what to pay attention to when teaching EB students social studies. While I may not ever teach social studies it will still help put into context what EB students might not know.

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This slide really helps as it gives you a view into what EB students experience. It helps put into perspective what your students hear and understand so you can best help them and address their needs.

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This website is useful to knowing some of the important words you need to focus on. If you don't know how to teach language it is hard to know what you should teach and this website helps to provide a decent outline of what to focus on.

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This article offers guidance for selecting vocabulary words when teaching ELLs and explains the difference between Tier 1, 2, and 3 words.

A student's maximum level of reading comprehension is determined by his or her knowledge of words. This word knowledge allows students to comprehend text. As the teacher, you can explicitly teach word meanings to improve comprehension. However, to know a word means knowing it in all of the following dimensions:

The ability to define a word

The ability to recognize when to use that word

Knowledge of its multiple meanings

The ability to decode and spell that word

Therefore, it is vitally important to teach key words that children will need to comprehend texts, learn the content in those texts, and pass tests. Words are taught through direct instruction of word meanings as well as through discussions about words (including prefixes, suffixes, and roots) - all combined with a lot of reading.

For English language learners (ELLs), vocabulary development is especially critical for their ability to read and comprehend texts. The selection of vocabulary words to teach ELLs can be grouped into three tiers.

Tier 1 words

Tier 1 words are words that ELLs typically know the concept of in their primary language, but not the label in English. For example, a Tier 1 word might be butterfly. This is a word that English language learners may not know, but it can be easily taught by pointing to a picture of a butterfly during text discussion.

Another Tier 1 word might be march (move like a soldier). A word like march can be easily instructed during text discussion by marching in place. But because this word has multiple meanings, it also merits further instruction. This can be accomplished through oral language activities that follow the text discussion.

Teaching Tier 1 words

We take it for granted that native English-speakers know most Tier 1 words, but this is not the case for ELLs. Many Tier 1 words may be unknown to ELLs and key to the comprehension of a passage. Different types of Tier 1 words require different teaching strategies:

Some Tier 1 words cannot be demonstrated and do not have multiple meanings, but students will need to know them. An example of this is the word uncle. A simple explanation of the word's meaning during the story reading will suffice. Or, if the teacher and students are bilingual, a quick translation is sufficient.

Idioms and everyday expressions (like "make up your mind," "let's hit the books," and "once upon a time") are also in the Tier 1 category. Teachers will need to explain the meanings of these phrases to students.

Some Tier 1 words are simple cognates (like family/familia or preparation/preparación). The cognates in this category consist of words that are high-frequency words in Spanish and English. They may not require substantial instruction because students may know the word meanings in Spanish. The teacher can merely state the English cognate and have students provide the Spanish cognate. Or, the teacher can provide the English cognate and students can say both the English word and Spanish cognate.

It is also important to point out false cognates and give the correct translation. Examples of false cognates are: rope/ropa (clothing) and embarrassed/embarazada (pregnant). There are also some false cognates that have multiple meanings in one language, and one or some of those meanings do not coincide with the meaning of the other language.

Here is a list of helpful Spanish-English cognates.

Tier 2 words

Tier 2 words are more complex than Tier 1 words. They may also be more abstract. These include:

1. Words that are important and useful to understanding the text, such as: character, setting, plot, even numbers, and country.

2. Words that have connections to other words and concepts, such as: between, among, by, combine, and estimate.

3. Words for which students understand the general concept, but need greater precision and specificity in describing a concept or a person, such as: sets, tables (for math or science, or for a table of contents), shy, ashamed, and stubborn.

Teaching Tier 2 words

Tier 2 words appear in grade-level texts. They can be worked with in a variety of ways so that ELLs build rich representations of them and connect them to other words and concepts. Different types of Tier 2 words require different teaching strategies:

Some Tier 2 words will not require elaborate discussion, because they can be demonstrated. These include words with multiple meanings, such as trunk, which can be taught by using gestures to show that it is part of an elephant, part of a tree, part of our body, and the back of a car.

In addition, many Tier 2 words are cognates. In this tier, they are high frequency words in Spanish and low frequency words in English. This means that Spanish-speaking ELLs will have a head start with these words (such as coincidence/coincidencia, industrious/industrioso, and fortunate/afortunado) because they will know both the concept and an approximation of the label in English.

The Tier 2 words that should be targeted for pre-teaching include words that cannot be demonstrated and are not cognates.

ELLs should be expected to master Tier 2 words in order to do well on comprehension and on tests.

Tier 3 words

These are low-frequency words that are found mostly in content books in the upper grades. Examples include witticism, isotope, procrastinate, amoeba, or words that are not demonstrable or cognates. These words are rarely encountered in the early grades, but if they do appear, you can translate them or briefly explain them in either English or in the ELLs' first language.

Note: It is advisable at all grade levels to have bilingual dictionaries available in the classroom. If you do not know the translation for a vocabulary word into students' native language, it is an easy reference and clarification tool. Also, when reading texts on their own, students can look up unknown words and ensure their own comprehension.

References

Beck, I., McKeown, M. & Kucan, L (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: The Gilford Press.

Calderón, M., August, D., Durán, D., Madden, N., R. Slavin & M. Gil (2003 and in press). Spanish to English Transitional Reading: Teacher's Manual. Baltimore, MD: The Success for All Foundation.

Calderón, M. & L. Minaya-Rowe (2004). Expediting Comprehension to English Language Learners (ExC-ELL) Teachers Manual. Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education, Johns Hopkins University.

Calderón, M. & L. Minaya-Rowe (in press). Teaching Reading, Oral Language and Content to English Language Learners - How ELLs Keep Pace With Mainstream Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Reprints

For any reprint requests, please contact the author or publisher listed.

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Selecting Vocabulary Words to Teach English Language Learners

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This article offers guidance for selecting vocabulary words when teaching ELLs and explains the difference between Tier 1, 2, and 3 words. A student's maximum level of reading comprehension is determined by his or her knowledge of words. This word knowledge allows students to comprehend text.

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I chose this because cognates is one of my favorite strategies. This explanation of how to use them is helpful and will likely help me to have a better way of teaching using cognates.

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Cognates are words in two languages that share a similar meaning, spelling, and pronunciation. While English may share very few cognates with a language like Chinese, 30-40% of all words in English have a related word in Spanish. For Spanish-speaking ELLs, cognates are an obvious bridge to the English language.

Not surprisingly, researchers who study first and second language acquisition have found that students benefit from cognate awareness. Cognate awareness is the ability to use cognates in a primary language as a tool for understanding a second language. Children can be taught to use cognates as early as preschool. As students move up the grade levels, they can be introduced to more sophisticated cognates, and to cognates that have multiple meanings in both languages, although some of those meanings may not overlap. One example of a cognate with multiple meanings is asistir, which means to assist (same meaning) but also to attend (different meaning).

Classroom strategies for teaching cognates

Read aloud

When you read aloud to your students, ask the Spanish speakers to raise their hand when they think they hear a cognate. Stop reading and discuss that cognate. Point out the subtle differences you hear between the Spanish and English words. If you have a French, Italian, or Portuguese speaker in your class, invite them to contribute cognates in that language.

Student reading

As ELLs read their texts, ask them to find three or four cognates and write them on sticky pads. Collect those notes and put them on an OUR COGNATES laminated chart. Before the class ends, read or have students read them to the class. Discuss spellings or sounds that are the same and different between the cognates.

Follow-up activities:

Word Sort

Pair students and give each pair a set of cognate cards: one card has the English cognate and the other has the Spanish cognate. For example:

Have students sort the words. Then ask them what the word pairs have in common and write responses on the board.

Circle Differences

Ask students to indicate which letters are different between the cognates by circling the letters. Alternate between having them call out differences with the teacher circling and occasionally having students come up and circle the differences themselves.

False Cognates

Write examples of false cognates on the board. For example: embarrassed/ embarazada and pie/ pie. Warn students that they might run into some words that are false cognates. These are words that look alike but do not have the same meaning in English and Spanish. Ask the students:

Does anyone know what pie means in Spanish ( foot)? What does the word pie mean in English ( dessert)?

Another example of a false cognate is the word embarrassed in English and embarazada in Spanish. What does embarrassed mean in English (to feel ashamed about something)? Does anyone know what embarazada means in Spanish ( pregnant)?

Give students some cognates and false cognates and ask them to identify each. Examples of false cognates:

Ask students to work with a partner to find as many cognates and false cognates as they can from a given list of words. After they finish, ask partners to share one example of each with the class.

Exaggerate intonation and stress

Cognate words can cause problems for Spanish speakers learning English and vice versa because of different stress patterns in the two languages. Point out how the emphasis changes in the following words:

condition / condición

animal / animal

ability / habilidad

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Using Cognates to Develop Comprehension in English

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Cognates are words in two languages that share a similar meaning, spelling, and pronunciation. While English may share very few cognates with a language like Chinese, 30-40% of all words in English have a related word in Spanish. For Spanish-speaking ELLs, cognates are an obvious bridge to the English language.

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Something I have often thought about is the question of how you support reading in an ESL classroom. I chose this site because it helps answer this question and explain how you can effectively help ESL students in their reading.

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Kristen is our guest blogger today, joining us from A Walk in the Chalk. She's sharing her strategies for reaching ELLs in the classroom by incorporating modified guided reading strategies.

Guided reading is an important component of a balanced literacy program. It is when individualized reading instruction is provided to a small group of students. The group size is typically between four to six students, and each lesson is approximately 20 minutes. The teacher meets with each group several times a week and provides targeted instruction on reading skills and comprehension strategies.

Aren't guided reading lessons the same for ELLs (English language learners) as with native English speakers? Yes and no. The same effective strategies used with native English speakers are used with ELLs, but additional strategies are necessary in order to help ELLs navigate through their new language. Let's face it: Our ELLs are learning content and the English language at the same time. In order for them to fully understand and interact with the text, certain instructional strategies require more attention, and scaffolds need to be added to support the language. Let's take a look at how we can modify guided reading instruction to best support our English language learners.

Choosing the Right Text

When we choose a guided reading text for our ELLs, it's important to keep some questions in mind. Does the book topic provide cultural relevance? Will students have prior knowledge of the topic? What background knowledge will you need to provide the students? Choosing texts that students can relate to will add to their level of comprehension.

Additionally, as with any guided reading group, we want to choose books, or texts, that are at the students' instructional reading levels. For ELLs we also want to choose books that don't have a heavy language load. If I find a book at my students' reading level, but the language is heavy with a lot of new vocabulary or grammatically complex sentences, I may choose to find a different book.

It's also important to choose age appropriate books for our ELLs. Avoid "baby" books, especially for the older students. Students may be reading at a primary level in English, but providing "babyish" books can have a negative impact on a student's self-esteem. It can also be a source of embarrassment for them. It may be more challenging to find emergent leveled books for older ELLs, but they are out there.

When choosing a text, also note areas that might be confusing. Some areas that can hinder comprehension are the use of figurative language, homophones, multiple meaning words, and new vocabulary, as well as grammatically complex sentences. Addressing these before reading will greatly support students' understanding.

Lastly, whenever we are able to integrate reading with other content areas, the better it is for our ELLs. This provides multiple exposures of a topic, allowing students to gain a deeper understanding of the content. I love finding books or passages that tie into the Science and Social Studies curriculum, because this additional exposure also sets them up for further success in those classes.

English Explorer Books are excellent leveled books to use for integrating content with reading

Introduce the Text

As the text is introduced, clear and concise objectives should be provided. I post both content and language objectives at the beginning of each lesson. The content objective is "what" I want them to learn, and the language objective is "how" they will show their understanding. Setting clear objectives gives students a purpose for reading, as well as a goal that is clear and attainable.

Next, and one of the most important components of modified guided reading, is activating or building background knowledge as a pre-reading activity. ELLs often lack the background knowledge needed to fully understand a text. In order to bring cultural relevance to a topic, we need to activate the knowledge they already have, or when there is none, we need to build it for them. We can build this by using real world items (realia), videos, pictures, or shared readings. This component is crucial for setting ELLs up for success. Imagine your new student is from a tropical country, and the book you are reading with him/her is about a snowy winter. The student may not have background knowledge of what snow looks like, feels like, tastes likes, sounds like, or smells like. Using pictures, video clips, and realia can provide the background knowledge the student needs to gain a deeper understanding of the text.

As the text is introduced, we also want to frontload new vocabulary before reading. This includes both academic vocabulary, as well as any tricky everyday vocabulary. I always try to look at vocabulary through the eyes of an English language learner. A word that may not seem tricky to me could be for my ELLs.

Introducing the text, building background knowledge, and frontloading new vocabulary are critical to scaffolding the guided reading text. Spending extra time on this component will be extremely beneficial.

Check for Understanding

Next, monitoring student understanding as they read is done with quick comprehension checks. I listen to each individual child read, and then I will askhim/her open-ended questions or have him/her make a connection, a prediction, or an inference. The student then "turns off their volume" and continues to read silently while I listen to the next student. This continues as I get to each student in the group. We can't assume our ELLs understand; it's necessary to provide those comprehension checks to either help them navigate the text further or confirm that they are indeed understanding.

Respond to Reading

This is the "language objective." It's the "how" they will show what they know. You may choose to incorporate a guided writing activity, fill in a graphic organizer, use drama, participate in a discussion, or answer questions about their reading. This component will help solidify understanding and afford the use of language output in a low anxiety setting.

Students answer questions and engage in discussion with a fun Read-n-Roll activity

Word work is also an important part of reading instruction, and your guided reading lesson is a great time to incorporate it. Our ELLs need word work. Instructional time devoted to phonics, spelling patterns, and sight words will help build a foundation for learning English. I typically find areas of focus within the guided reading text. I also look for sounds in English that are different in my students' native language and focus on building awareness and pronunciation of these new sounds. Spending just a few minutes each lesson on word work will have a great impact on your ELLs' progress in both their reading and writing skills.

Integrating listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills within a guided reading lesson will provide opportunities for students to grow in all areas of literacy. The goal is to provide ELLs with the skills, strategies, and support they need to understand and interact with the content and curriculum at each grade level. By doing this, the ultimate goal of closing the achievement gap can be better realized.

Modified Guided Reading Lesson Plan Template

Modified guided reading instruction enables the reading and language skills of students to be developed. It targets the specific needs of ELLs and provides them with a deeper and broader understanding of text. Through this practice, the literacy skills, language development and self confidence of your English language learners will flourish.

I'm Kristen Vibas, an elementary ESOL teacher living in northern Virginia, teaching since 2005. I am passionate about teaching English language learners and creating fun and meaningful resources that support them in their mainstream classrooms. You can find me at my blog, "A Walk in the Chalk," or at my TPT store, "Kristen Vibas."

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Kristen is our guest blogger today, joining us from A Walk in the Chalk. She's sharing her strategies for reaching ELLs in the classroom by incorporating modified guided reading strategies. Guided reading is an important component of a balanced literacy program. It is when individualized reading instruction is provided to a small group of students.

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Sentence frames can be really helpful for teaching EB students. This article will be a good resource to help me see how to properly teach using this strategy.

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This video was very instructional and helped to further explain how language objectives work. It will be a good future resource for when I need to write language objectives.

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This slide is really helpful because it presents an example of how Language Objectives are written. I personally do really well with examples and find that once I see an example I can replicate and make it my own so this is really helpful for me.

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I chose this resource because overall it will be an extremely useful tool in my future classroom. This is definitely something I see myself using to help me instruct in academic language for all of my students, EB or not.

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I chose this set of videos because understand how to communicate to deaf students is really important. As a teacher it is important to recognize that deaf students will also need specific assistance similar to EB's, and may even need language assistance if they are only used to ASL.

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The goal of this page is to provide us a better understanding of how the nature of Deaf/Hard of Hearing communication works. These videos have been used by a number of school districts across Texas to show the similarities and differences in three communication modes in storytelling.

ASL

Storyteller: Lisa Cochran

Video Length: 3:51

PSE

Storyteller: Jacques Guidry

Video Length: 4:19

SEE

Storyteller: Amy Poteet

Video Length: 4:58
Click here for Transcript

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Communication & Language / Comparisons of PSE, ASL, & SEE Storytelling Videos

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The goal of this page is to provide us a better understanding of how the nature of Deaf/Hard of Hearing communication works. These videos have been used by a number of school districts across Texas to show the similarities and differences in three communication modes in storytelling.

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I decided to link this method because it reminds me of how humans naturally try to communicate when they don't speak the same language. The specific teaching style is helpful as it connects the natural way of communicating to how to truly teach language.

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I chose this resource because I think it is really important for EB students to know that they are not alone. Digital storytelling allows students to meet others and learn about others so they can observe similarities and differences between people who are similar to them. It also gives them a method to share their stories and to have a voice.

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Last year, I took a big risk by including blogging as part of the curriculum for my first-year college English course. Around half of my students were English language learners (ELLs), and I wasn't sure that they would be comfortable with this medium. (Read about blogging in my ELL classroom here). I started to think of ways they could contribute to their blogs that did not necessarily require an overwhelming amount of writing. A conversation with our college's librarian led me to digital storytelling. Students would still write, but by using another medium too, I aimed to keep them motivated and engaged in writing blogs.
What Is Digital Storytelling?
Digital storytelling is the concept of using digital media (photos, audio, video) to create a story. It's a tool that can be used for a variety of communication purposes, from marketing and advertising to documentary videos. In the classroom, digital storytelling allows students to apply tools that are relevant to 21st-century learning and to extend their communication and interaction to another level.
Benefits of Digital Storytelling for ELLs
Digital storytelling has profound benefits for students' communication, critical thinking, creative and writing skills. For ELLs, those are three particularly important areas to focus on since learning a new language adds a layer of difficulty to overcome.

Communication:For many ELLs, communicating an idea, a narrative or a story is the most difficult aspect of learning English. Digital storytelling allows students to communicate an experience or an idea-and the meaning and feelings behind it-in a short timeframe and to express themselves in ways they might not be able to while writing an essay or report. For example, a digital story can be three minutes long, but the tools used to tell it help convey a deeper meaning and builds a connection with the audience. Images, music, audio recordings and family photos are just a few of the possible tools.

Critical Thinking and Creativity:Often, ELLs get so caught up with learning and trying to speak and write English that critical thinking and creativity become lost in translation. The process of creating a digital story guides students to think about why an idea, an experience or a story is important to them. This allows students to practice analyzing their own narratives, which fosters reflection and critical thinking.

In addition to critical thinking, students will be able to learn in a way that supports and encourages creativity. Many students, if asked, would tell me they're not creative. However, students use their creativity throughout the process of developing digital stories, even when they're using technical or other skills (e.g., digital media tools) that don't conjure up "creativity" in their minds.

Writing:Writing is a pretty daunting task for most ELLs, but I found that, after being introduced to digital storytelling, my students became more comfortable with sharing their thoughts and experiences. Digital stories allow them to express themselves with fewer words. Still, creating a digital story takes students through a process that is very similar to the writing process. Students have to brainstorm, plan, outline, draft, edit and share. If you use digital storytelling with your students, periodically remind students to make connections between the two processes. This will help familiarize them with the writing process and help them see that writing is a doable task.

Here is an eight-step digital storytelling process, as explained byeducator and ed-tech expertSamantha Morra:

1. Generate an idea and go from there.

2. Research to learn about the topic.

3. Write out a script.

4. Create a storyboard.

5. Compile or create digital media (images, audio, video, etc.).

6. Assemble all the parts into a digital story.

7. Share with others.

8. Reflect on the experience and give feedback.

Digital Storytelling and Classroom Culture
As a class, we went through the process of creating digital stories together, but students also worked independently. I thought it would be great for them to share with each other their final products. Many students were reluctant at first, so I only chose volunteers. But as they saw their peers' work, many students changed their minds and shared their own stories.

Digital storytelling not only contributed to a safe environment for students to share their cultural experiences and personal stories, but it also created a classroom where students gained confidence. They realized that it's valuable for all of us to be proud of who we are.
One Student's Digital Story
Oleksii, an ELL student from Ukraine, had come to Canada a year before he attended my class. He was very self-conscious about writing and speaking in English and sought out extra help from me whenever he had the chance. When I introduced digital storytelling, he was very hesitant because of his accent-he even mentions it in the beginning of his video. However, after experimenting with digital storytelling, he saw it as an opportunity to share with his classmates a bit about Ukraine and his cultural background. After seeing his classmates' reactions to his story, Oleksii beamed with pride: He made a powerful digital story that he can share with others.
Resources How to Incorporate Digital Storytelling to Empower Student Voice
Digital Storytelling on Seneca College's Sandbox
A Guide to Producing Student Digital Storytellers
Alrubail is a writer on education, teaching and learning. She is also the editor of Medium's The Synapse publication on learning, teaching and education.

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Expressing themselves clearly in English can be challenging for English language learners, but digital storytelling can enhance their communication skills and learning in a fun, relevant way.

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I chose this because it helps explain how to use digital story telling in the classroom. I can see it being really useful in the future if I were to use digital storytelling as a teaching method.

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Transform Learning ~ written by Samantha Morra

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First appeared on Edudemic. (Updated 3/14/2014)

Stories bring us together, encourage us to understand and empathize, and help us to communicate. Long before paper and books were common and affordable, information passed from generation to generation through this oral tradition of storytelling. Consider Digital Storytelling as the 21st Century version of the age-old art of storytelling with a twist: digital tools now make it possible for anyone to create a story and share it with the world.

WHY Digital Storytelling?

Digital stories push students to become creators of content, rather than just consumers. Weaving together images, music, text, and voice, digital stories can be created in all content areas and at all grade levels while incorporating the 21st century skills of creating, communicating, and collaborating.

Movies, created over a century ago, represent the beginning of digital storytelling. Consuming movies has become a cultural phenomenon, but making them was inaccessible to the average person for decades. Film cameras, 8mm and even video cameras served as big breakthroughs, but editing posed a challenge until technology progressed with software, websites, and apps exploding on the scene and putting advanced editing skills into the hands of everyone. Look at the meteoric rise of YouTube and other video sharing websites. At no other time in history have we been able to create, edit and share video on both a personal and global scale. In fact, video and images have become primary ways of communicating, taking the place of traditional print literacies in some areas.

8 Steps to Great Digital Stories

Great digital stories:

Are personal

Begin with the story/script

Are concise

Use readily-available source materials

Include universal story elements

Involve collaboration at a variety of levels

In order to achieve this level of greatness, students need to work through a Digital Storytelling Process.

1. Start with an Idea

All stories begin with an idea, and digital stories are no different. This idea could be the topic of a lesson, a chapter heading in a textbook, or a question asked in class. Digital stories might be fiction or non-fiction. Once you or your student have an idea, make it concrete: write a proposal, craft a paragraph, draw a mind-map, or use any other pre-writing tool.

I once had 5th graders write their proposal on National Parks as a paragraph. The topic sentence was the park that they picked and its location. Then, they had to include three interesting facts about the park. Finally. the conclusion sentence had to explain why they picked that park or were excited to study it. In the process, we not only wrote the proposal but also improved our paragraph writing. One student commented, "I think I finally have this paragraph thing down."
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2. Research/Explore/Learn

Whether writing a fiction or nonfiction digital story, students need to research, explore or learn about the topic in order to create a base of information on which the story will be built. During this process, students learn both about validating information and information bias as they delve deeper into a topic.

At this stage, organization is very important. I often use mind-mapping to help students keep track of information. Outlines, index cards, and online note-taking tools all work as well. If students can organize their information digitally, then it makes the next steps much easier.
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3. Write/Script

When you are trying to write, there is nothing worse than a blank sheet of paper. That's why I strongly encourage the 2 pre-writing steps above. If students have a proposal, with a little bit of editing, it can become the introduction. If students research and explored a topic well, the body of the script should fall into place like a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces are already there, students just need to make them fit.

This is also the time where literary decisions come into play. Ask students to determine whether they will use first, second or third person. Challenge them to expand word choices. Give them an opportunity to break out a dictionary or thesaurus. I once worked with high school social studies teachers who had the students write a full essay or research paper before turning it into a script. They told me that when they were done with the project, the students should be "experts" on the topic. It depends all on your goal and your students.
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4. Storyboard/Plan

Good stories start with a good script, but they don't end there. This is where we transition into visual media literacies. George Lucas once said, "If people aren't taught the language of sound and images, shouldn't they be considered as illiterate as if they left college without being able to read or write?" Storyboarding is the first step towards understanding sound and images. It is the plan or blueprint that will guide decision making about images, video and sound. Simple storyboards will just have room for images/video and the script. More advanced ones might even include room for transitions, and background music.
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5. Gather and Create Images, Audio and Video

This is the "stuff" that makes magic happen and writing come alive. Using their storyboard as a guide, students will gather - or create - images, audio and video. Everything they choose will impact and set the tone for their digital story. Introduce concepts such as visual hierarchy, tone, and illustration. This is also a great time to talk about Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons. Students should use this time to record themselves reading their scripts. I have often noticed that students rewrite their scripts as they record. Through this step in the process, they become acutely aware of mistakes and poor word choices.
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6. Put It All Together

This is where the magic happens - where students discover if their storyboard needs tweaking and if they have enough "stuff" to create their masterpiece. You will see students revisit and revise their storyboard. I love this stage. This is usually when students are so engrossed in their work that they don't leave when the bell rings, or they come back at lunch or after-school to work on the project. They will find ways to push the technology and tools beyond your expectations - blending images, creating unique transitions between video clips, incorporating music or sound effects. I also use this stage to provide students with a rubric so they understand what is necessary for a completed project as well as how to push themselves beyond the expectations.
Resources Rubrics
7. Share

Sharing online has become deeply embedded in our culture, so as educators, we might as well embrace it. Review your school or district's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) and then look for a way to share your students' stories with a broader audience. Knowing that other people might see their work often raises student motivation to make it the best possible work that they can do.
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8. Reflection and Feedback

Too often in education, we do not teach or allow time for reflection and feedback. What did I learn? What do I know about myself that I did not know before? How can I do better next time?

Students need to be taught how to reflect on their own work and give feedback to others that is both constructive and valuable. Blogs, wikis discussion boards, and student response systems or polling tools can all be used to help students at this stage.
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Beyond Traditional Assessment

Schools across the country are embracing digital storytelling as an amazing tool for students to communicate their personal understanding of a topic. Digital stories create a bridge across content areas and provide opportunities for students to break free from print literacies to add deeper dimension to their work. It is critical that schools embraces digital storytelling and video creation as skills our students must learn in order to successfully communicate in the 21st century. This is a "Gutenberg" moment where communication and storytelling have changed so drastically that it "shakes-up" our cultural, social, and academic norms. Digital stories provide us with information that knowledge has been shared and understood. They allow us to ask our students: "What is the story? What is your story."
To learn more about Digital Storytelling, come join me for Digital Storytelling & Multimedia Projects, July 8-10 in Boston.

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First appeared on Edudemic. (Updated 3/14/2014) 8 Steps To Great Digital Storytelling Stories bring us together, encourage us to understand and empathize, and help us to communicate. Long before paper and books were common and affordable, information passed from generation to generation through this oral tradition of storytelling.

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This slide helped to reinforce what the important Science skills are, especially for EB students. It generally helps ensure that I will teach the correct things if I am ever in a Science classroom.

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This slide from 362 is an incredibly helpful reminder. As native English speakers we can very easily forget that language changes and there are different kinds, even of English. This slide is important to keep in mind when instructing EB students.

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This slide helps to make sure that you understand what is truly necessary. I feel like I keep losing sight of the reality of what is necessary in teaching language so this really helped bring me back to the basics of what you need for L2 literacy.

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This is a really important slide. It is easy to forget these principles even between you and your students that are native. I link this slide as a reminder of just how important these pieces are.

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It is really important to remember that language starts in the home. You have to be willing to work with parents in order to help students learn both language and other subjects. The slide helps to reaffirm this concept.