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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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This resource facilitates connections between different cultures and locations. These connections build on multilingual and multicultural knowledge and experiences.

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This resource promotes understanding of new cultures and helps develop students' language skills through collaboration.

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Go Pangea connects the world through learning. Our global community engages learners in real-world collaboration to develop skills for success in school, work, and life. Go Pangea was created by PenPal Schools.

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This article discusses the importance and how to best to go about digital story telling. This method can help develop EBs writing and communication skills by combining multimedia tools.

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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."
Resources
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.
Resources
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.
Resources
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.
Resources
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 link compiles a list of technological resources that can be used to help with the learning and language acquisition of EB/ELs. These resources offer a wide range of interactive and helpful learning options.

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Audacity:

software for recording and editing sounds

http://audacity.sourceforge.net

Online Courses, Communities, and Materials

E-Teacher Scholarship Program:

Online courses for which EFL teachers may receive scholarships
http://exchanges.state.gov/non-us/program/e-teacher-scholarship-program/details

Kahn Academy:

Over 1200 videos lessons covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, chemistry, and biology.

http://www.khanacademy.org/exercisedashboard

Choose from multiple topics and take a course or listen to a lecture from top universities across the U.S.

http://www.apple.com/in/itunes/download/

Dave's ESL Café:

comprehensive site with discussion boards, jobs, activities for students
http://www.eslcafe.com/

Discovery Education Puzzlemaker:

Make word searches, crossword puzzles, etc using your own word lists
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/free-puzzlemaker/?CFID=3224607&CFTOKEN=23131798

Graphic Organizers:

over 20 free graphic organizer templates

http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/

Glogster:

Creates online media posters. You can embed your own videos, images, and sounds.

Voicethread 4 Education:

Interactive tool for having conversations around media, either photos,illustrations, and video, or a combination of all 3

http://voicethread4education.wikispaces.com

Visuwords:

online Graphical Dictionary

Word Processing-based Activities
for a Language Class

Suggestions for communicative uses of word processing

http://edvista.com/claire/wp.html

General information about CALL:

links to organizations, journals, websites
http://edvista.com/claire/call.html

An Invitation to CALL: Foundations of Computer-Assisted Language Learning, by Phil Hubbard

free e-book
https://www.apacall.org/research/books/6/An_Invitation_to_CALL_2021.pdf

professional and personal links
http://edvista.com/claire/index.html

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Audacity: software for recording and editing sounds http://audacity.sourceforge.net Online Courses, Communities, and Materials E-Teacher Scholarship Program: Online courses for which EFL teachers may receive scholarships http://exchanges.state.gov/non-us/program/e-teacher-scholarship-program/ details Kahn Academy: Over 1200 videos lessons covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, chemistry, and biology.

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This resource has different guided reading options that will be useful for English Language Learners! These strategies help students practice reading in different and creative ways.

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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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These resources are useful in helping prepare students for their STAAR exams. Students should walk into their exams feeling prepared and equipped and these reading practices will help.

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STAAR Reading Language Arts Resources | Texas Education Agency

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These resources will help students prepare when it comes to TELPAS and students being assessed. These resources help students be examined correctly.

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The Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) is an English language proficiency assessment aligned to the Texas English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS). This assessment is designed to assess the progress that emergent bilingual (EB) students make in learning the English language. TELPAS fulfills ESSA requirements for assessing EB students in kindergarten through grade 12 in four language domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Grades K-1 include:

holistically rated observational assessments of listening, speaking, reading and writing
Grades 2-12 include online tests for:

listening and speaking

reading and writing

Who Is Tested?

All EB students in kindergarten through grade 12 enrolled in Texas public schools or open-enrollment charter schools are required to participate in TELPAS. EB students are required to be assessed annually with an English language proficiency assessment until they meet EB reclassification criteria.

What Is Tested?

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The Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) is an English language proficiency assessment aligned to the Texas English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS). This assessment is designed to assess the progress that emergent bilingual (EB) students make in learning the English language.

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These alternate resources are incredibly helpful because it shows that there is a wide range of students that are assessed. This helps widen how students are examined.

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The Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) Alternate is a holistic inventory aligned to the Texas English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPs); however, TELPAS Alternate is based on alternate proficiency level descriptors. This assessment is designed to address the specific access needs of emergent bilingual (EB) students in grades 2-12 with the most significant cognitive disabilities. TELPAS Alternate fulfills the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act for assessing the English language proficiency of EB students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

TELPAS Alternate holistically assesses EB students in grades 2-12 in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Who Is Tested?

An EB student's admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee, in conjunction with the language proficiency assessment committee (LPAC), must determine if the student meets the participation requirements for TELPAS Alternate. All EB students enrolled in Texas public schools and open-enrollment charter schools in grades 2-12 who meet the participation requirements are required to participate in TELPAS Alternate. EB students are required to be assessed annually with an English language proficiency assessment until they meet EB reclassification criteria.

If an ARD committee determines that a student meets the eligibility criteria for "No Authentic Academic Response" (NAAR) or a "Medical Exception," the student will not be required to participate in TELPAS Alternate.

What Is Tested?

What Is Reported?

What Other Information Is Available?

Test Administration

Training

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The Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) Alternate is a holistic inventory aligned to the Texas English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPs); however, TELPAS Alternate is based on alternate proficiency level descriptors. This assessment is designed to address the specific access needs of emergent bilingual (EB) students in grades 2-12 with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

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National Association for Gifted Children

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National Association for Gifted Children

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The National Association for Gifted Children is a helpful resource for teachers because it offers community and tools for these students to best be served.

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National Association for Gifted Children | NAGC

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NAGC is the nation’s leading organization focused on the needs of gifted and talented children. Dedicated to uplifting and empowering those who support children with advanced abilities, NAGC provides energizing professional learning, impactful research, and inspiring advocacy to ensure all children have equitable opportunities and support to develop their gifts and talents.

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These resources help students who are gifted feel equally challenged and equipped by their teachers. These resources target a problem that can be constantly overlooked.

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Gifted/Talented resources for families and educators

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Encouraging equitable representation of student populations in Gifted/Talented (G/T) programs throughout the state by providing tools and resources that inform and support families and educators.

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This article unpacks how to best use blogging in classrooms with English Learners. The article discusses how this method can improve their writing and reading abilities.

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Student blogging provides opportunities for sharing, reflection, and ownership. With ELLs, blogs can provide deeper engagement and a public forum to demonstrate their developing skills.

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This resource will help students practice their oral development by offering a creative outlet. The Educational Theatre Association helps students develop these skills outside of the classroom.

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Video Example of ELA & Social Studies Integrated Teaching

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Video Example of ELA & Social Studies Integrated Teaching

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This video reveals how teachers can scaffold social studies lessons to help students better understand this information. This integrated teaching helps meet student's needs.

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Scaffolding Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners

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Caitlin LeClair, seventh-grade social studies teacher at King Middle School in Portland, Maine, supports her students to read complex texts—fiction and nonfiction—about South Sudan. LeClair supports her diverse group of learners by choosing compelling topics; working through a progression of increasingly complex texts; and providing scaffolding and support to build their skills as close readers.

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This link helps share information about learning disabilities and ADHD. These resources are useful because they help equip educators with scaffolds.

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LD OnLine | All About Learning Disabilities and ADHD

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LD OnLine seeks to help children and adults reach their full potential by providing accurate information, advise, and shared personal experiences about learning disabilities and ADHD.

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Colorin Colorado & Learning Disabilities

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Colorin Colorado & Learning Disabilities

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This article offers helpful information about how to educate ELLs as well as students with disabilities. It is incredibly important for teachers to be aware of how best to serve these students.

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Special Education and English Language Learners

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Learn more about how schools and families can collaborate to ensure that ELLs, including those with special needs, have the appropriate support and services to meet their unique needs.

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These are methods to teach cognates. Students knowing cognates will help contribute to students' ability to write better.

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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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This list of cognates will help teachers when their students are learning them. This list helps highlight their importance as well as their meanings.

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How to use TPR (Total Physical Response) in the Classroom

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How to use TPR (Total Physical Response) in the Classroom

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A video that breaks down how to use Total Physical Response to help support student learning! This method is super helpful and useful for helping ELs connect and fully understand what they are learning.

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This teaching method is incredibly useful for helping students acquire language. This message focuses on the teacher speaking as little as possible to help students learn more independently.

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ITTT International TEFL & TESOL Training

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Theories, Methods & Techniques of Teaching - The Silent Way

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This approach to teaching emergent bilinguals focuses on developing their oral language skills by having students create their own stories based on their own experiences.

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This association is a great resource for revealing how art can play a role in a culture and society.

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This set of resources is associated with helping students better understand math. These resources are helpful because it offers a various different approaches for teachers to meet their student's needs.

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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 is a great scaffold that will help students better understand math and communicating math knowledge.

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Reading Comprehension Strategies for ELLs

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Reading Comprehension Strategies for ELLs

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This article offers different strategies for educators to help their students better comprehend what they are reading. This will be so helpful for educators who are looking for various ways to serve their students.

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Reading Comprehension Strategies for English Language Learners

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Note: This article originally appeared in ASCD Express: Vol. 5, Issue 11, “Reading to Learn.” Comprehension is the reason for reading, but it can be the most difficult skill to master — especially for English language learners (ELLs). ELLs often have problems learning science, math, or social studies concepts, for example, because they cannot comprehend the textbooks for these subjects.ELLs at all levels of English proficiency and literacy development will benefit from improved comprehension skills, which allow them to:read more accuratelyfollow a text or story more closelyidentify important events and concepts in a textmaster new concepts in their content-area classescomplete assignments and assessmentsfeel motivated to read in school and for pleasureThere are a number of ways to build ELLs’ comprehension skills. Often standard strategies that are used in mainstream classrooms are a good starting point — they just need to be tweaked with ELLs’ language and academic needs in mind! This article focuses on strategies that are part of three main approaches: building background knowledge, teaching vocabulary explicitly, and checking comprehension frequently.I. Build background knowledgeDraw on students’ existing knowledgeStudents may already possess content knowledge that they cannot yet demonstrate in English. Look for opportunities to make associations between students’ experiences and new content. Allow students to use their native language with peers for a quick brainstorm about what they know about a topic before presenting their ideas to the whole class.Related Videos Video bonus: See classroom videos and interviews about reading comprehension in our related resource section and classroom video library!Build students’ background knowledgeStudents with limited or interrupted schooling may not have that same level of knowledge as their peers, especially when it comes to historical or cultural topics. When starting a new lesson, look for references that may need to be explicitly explained.Take students on a “tour of the text”At the beginning of the year and each time you hand out a new textbook, take students on a “virtual tour.” Show them different elements of the text, such as the table of contents and the glossary, and discuss how these sections can be helpful. Explain how the text is organized, pointing out bold print, chapter headings, and chapter summaries. Once students learn how to recognize these elements, they will be able to preview the text independently. Remember that students need to know how to use a tool in order for it to be useful. Learn more about this strategy in Teaching ELLs to Navigate Textbooks Effectively.Use a “picture-walk”This strategy can be used for fiction or non-fiction books. “Walk through” the book with the students, pointing out pictures, illustrations, and other graphic elements. Ask them what they notice about the pictures and how they think those details may be related to the story or content.Use outlines to scaffold comprehensionProvide a brief, simple outline of a reading assignment or an oral discussion in advance of a new lesson. This will help ELLs pick out the important information as they listen or read.II. Teach vocabulary explicitlyFocus on key vocabularyChoose vocabulary that your students need to know in order to support their reading development and content-area learning. Provide student-friendly definitions for key vocabulary.Include signal and directional wordsRemember that students may also need explicit instruction in signal or directional words (“because” and “explain”), in addition to key content vocabulary (“photosynthesis” and “revolution”).Use a “picture-walk” for vocabularyOnce students know a new word’s definition, ask them connect those new words to the pictures they see in the text.Teach students to actively engage with vocabularyTeach students to underline, highlight, make notes, and list unknown vocabulary words as they read.Give student practice with new wordsEnsure that your students can:Define a wordRecognize when to use that wordUnderstand multiple meanings (such as the word “party”)Decode and spell that wordIncorporate new words into discussions and activitiesFor students to really know a word, they must use it — or they will lose it. Use new words in class discussions or outside of class in other contexts if appropriate, such as on field trips. Give the students as many opportunities to use and master the new vocabulary as possible.III. Check comprehension frequentlyUse informal comprehension checksTo test students’ ability to sequence material, for example, print sentences from a section of the text on paper strips, mix the strips, and have students put them in order.Test comprehension with student-friendly questionsAfter reading, test students’ comprehension with carefully crafted questions, using simple sentences and key vocabulary from the text. These questions can be at the:Literal level (Why do the leaves turn red and yellow in the fall?)Interpretive level (Why do you think it needs water?)Applied level (How much water are you going to give it? Why?)No matter what the proficiency level of the student, ask questions that require higher-level thinkingTo probe for true comprehension, ask questions that require students to analyze, interpret, or explain what they have read, such as:What ideas can you add to…?Do you agree? Why or why not?What might happen if…?How do you think she felt…?Use graphic organizersGraphic organizers allow ELLs to organize information and ideas efficiently without using a lot of language. Different types include Venn diagrams, K-W-L charts, story maps, cause-and-effect charts, and timelines.Provide students lots of different ways to “show what they know”Drawings, graphs, oral interviews, posters, and portfolios are just a few ways that students can demonstrate understanding as they are beginning to develop their reading and writing skills in English.SummarizeAsk students to use the following strategies to summarize what they have read (orally or in writing):Retell what you read, but keep it short.Include only important information.Leave out less important details.Use key words from the text.It may be challenging to get ELLs’ comprehension skills where you want them to be, but the extra effort it takes will be well worth it as you put them on the path to becoming successful readers.

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This article includes information that will help different students use various methods to better grow in their academic language. These methods will help teach academic language in different ways.

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These standards help reveal what is most important for teachers to focus on when teaching. These standards will help teachers better equip their students.

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This site will provide you with information on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), which are the state standards for what students should know and be able to do.

TEKS Review and Revision

The State Board of Education (SBOE) has legislative authority to adopt the TEKS for each subject of the required curriculum. SBOE members nominate educators, parents, business and industry representatives, and employers to serve on TEKS review committees. The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Review by Subject area web page provides information regarding the SBOE's process and current and previous reviews. Subscribe to updates from TEA.

The following link will provide information for the TEKS by subject area review:

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills by Chapter

The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) are listed below in two different formats, a web-based version of the standards and a PDF version of the standards. Click on the link below to access the web version (Web) of the standards or a PDF version (PDF) of the standards. Please note that the web-version of the standards may contain more than one page.

TEKS-Related Documents

The following links provide access to TEKS-related documents:

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills by Grade Level (Elementary)

The following documents provide the elementary TEKS compiled by grade level:

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This site will provide you with information on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), which are the state standards for what students should know and be able to do. The State Board of Education (SBOE) has legislative authority to adopt the TEKS for each subject of the required curriculum.

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This type of instruction helps target the needs of ELLs. This resource advocates for different ways of learning and recognizes their needs look different.

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Differentiated Instruction for English Language Learners

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Each student comes to school, not only with unique academic needs, but also with unique background experiences, culture, language, personality, interests, and attitudes toward learning. Effective teachers recognize that all of these factors affect how students learn in the classroom, and they adjust, or differentiate, their instruction to meet students' needs.

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The Importance of ELL Strategies - Immersion

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The Importance of ELL Strategies - Immersion

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Immersion is incredibly important and this resource highlights their importance as well as how to best integrate it into the classroom.

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The Importance of ELL Strategies - Immersion (Moises in Math Class)

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This resource can help students practice learning at home with their community. Stories can help bring families together and are accessible for everyone.

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The Cow That Went Oink by Bernard Most.  Grandma Annii's Storytime

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These strategies can be used by families and communities. The information is accessible and helpful for more than just teachers.

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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.