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To foster early literacy skills with Emergent Bilinguals/English Learners school leaders should encourage asset-based language and practices along with the following:​

The inclusion of EB & SPED teachers in Trainings, Data Meetings & Conversations Related to Structured Literacy

i.e.. LTRS training, Really Great Reading, etc.

Triangulate Emergent Bilingual data by looking at DIBELS as well as ACCESS

Consider needs of dually identified students & their IEPs

Consult with SLPs

Strong Tier 1 instruction for EB students that includes:

Co-teaching and collaborative planning opportunities with EB teachers

Classroom Anchor Charts, related Visuals, Modeling and Realia when possible

Opportunities for EB students to build background knowledge about units of study

Helpful resources for Language Comprehension during the RRW and Social Studies time include the LAD Newcomer Texts and 3Ls curriculum scaffolds within the ELA Onenote.

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ELA Newcomer Resource Guide.xlsx

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Literacy Foundations for English Learners: A Comprehensive Guide to Evidence-Based Instruction by Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan 

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Literacy Foundations for English Learners: A Comprehensive Guide to Evidence-Based Instruction by Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan 

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This accessible book will give teachers the knowledge base they need to help English learners develop strong literacy skills and achieve academic success. Aligned with IDA's Knowledge and Practice Standards, this book prepares current and future educators to teach English learners the key components of language and literacy, as first described in the National Literacy Panel report. For each component, teachers will get a dedicated chapter with research-based insights on how to teach English learners, guidance on making connections across languages when teaching that component, and ready-to-use principles and strategies for instruction. Learning objectives, study questions, and extended application activities help educators grow their knowledge and apply it in their classrooms.

For further exploration, see the following resources:

In addition, the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network produced an online book study with Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan aligned to key topics in the book's first seven chapters:

You can see more from Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan in the following Colorín Colorado resources:

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Literacy Foundations for English Learners

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This accessible book will give teachers the knowledge base they need to help English learners develop strong literacy skills and achieve academic success. Aligned with IDA's Knowledge and Practice Standards, this book prepares current and future educators to teach English learners the key components of language and literacy, as first described in the National Literacy Panel report.

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Teaching Reading & Comprehension to English Learners, K-5 by Margarita Calderon 

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Teaching Reading & Comprehension to English Learners, K-5 by Margarita Calderon 

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Teaching Reading & Comprehension to English Learners, K-5

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Amazon.com: Teaching Reading & Comprehension to English Learners, K-5: 9781935542032: Margarita Calderon: Books

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Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers by Louisa Cook Moats 

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Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers by Louisa Cook Moats 

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📖[PDF] Speech to Print by Louisa Cook Moats | Perlego

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Start reading 📖 Speech to Print for free online and get access to an unlimited library of academic and non-fiction books on Perlego.

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Unlocking English Learners′ Potential: Strategies for Making Content Accessible by Diane Fenner

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Unlocking English Learners′ Potential: Strategies for Making Content Accessible by Diane Fenner

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Content teachers and ESOL teachers, take special note: if you're looking for a single resource to help your English learners meet the same challenging content standards as their English-proficient peers, your search is complete. Just dip into this toolbox of strategies, examples, templates, and activities from EL authorities Diane Staehr Fenner and Sydney Snyder, which includes tips on:

How to scaffold ELs' instruction across content and grade levels

How to promote ELs' oral language development and academic language

How to help ELs analyze text through close reading and text-dependent questions

How to build ELs' background knowledge

How to design and use formative assessment with ELs

Note: We are particularly excited to announce the publication of this book since it is the direct result of the work Diane and Sydney have done on the Colorín Colorado blog. The foreword was written by Colorín Colorado Director Lydia Breiseth.

Preview this book!

Take a look at the introduction and first chapter, as well as excerpts on formative assessment, text-dependent questions, academic language, and ideas for scaffolding instruction on the Corwin website.

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Unlocking English Learners' Potential: Strategies for Making Content Accessible

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Content teachers and ESOL teachers, take special note: if you're looking for a single resource to help your English learners meet the same challenging content standards as their English-proficient peers, your search is complete.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain by Zaretta Hammond 

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Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain by Zaretta Hammond 

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Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain

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Book - Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain

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Helping Students be the Leaders of their Learning

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Figure 1: Spanish English Vowel Phonemes Correlation Chart

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Video 3: Making Meaning of Words and Their Parts

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Video 3: Making Meaning of Words and Their Parts

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Subscribe to Growing Readers!

Have Growing Readers delivered each month right to your inbox! (In English & Spanish) Sign up here >

Students who comprehend the most from their reading are those who know a lot about words. These students know about word prefixes, suffixes, word roots, and multiple meanings of words. This knowledge expands their vocabulary, which helps when they encounter new words during reading. As students reach the upper elementary grades and the reading becomes more complex, word knowledge becomes even more important.

Families can help develop word knowledge through simple conversations focused on words. For example:

Start at the root

Begin with a simple root word, such as push. Ask your child to come up with words they know that contain that word, such as pushing, pushed, pushover, push-up. Talk about how all these words have some shared meaning related to the word push.

Multiple meanings

Many words have more than one meaning. While sitting at the dinner table, choose a word and brainstorm as many meanings and uses for the word as you can think of. Some words to start with: spring, frame, check, light.

Consider the prefix

Numeric prefixes like bi- and tri- are a part of many words kids know and use. Discuss words like tricycle, tricep, triangle. All these words share the prefix tri-, which means three. Can they develop a list of words that begin with the prefix bi- (like bicycle and binoculars)? This gives you a great chance to introduce new words, like bicentennial, bicep, and biped. You can generate similar word lists with the numeric prefixes uni, octo, and cent.

Word learning and vocabulary growth takes time and patience. Don't expect your child to learn each new word after one conversation. True word learning happens after being exposed to words several times. We all learn about words throughout our lifetime. You're getting your child off to a great start by developing an early interest in words.

Reprints

You are welcome to print copies or republish materials for non-commercial use as long as credit is given to Colorín Colorado and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact [email protected] g.

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Subscribe to Growing Readers! Have Growing Readers delivered each month right to your inbox! (In English & Spanish) Sign up here > Students who comprehend the most from their reading are those who know a lot about words. These students know about word prefixes, suffixes, word roots, and multiple meanings of words.

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English Language Learners

A look at what English learners need in order to develop the skills and motivation to improve their ability to read in English.

ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock Photo

English learners (ELs) are the fastest growing group of students in the United States, and the NEA expects that by the year 2025, roughly one fourth of our students will be ELs. These students bring a rich diversity into our classrooms-they represent over 400 languages. With this beautiful diversity comes a need for educators to understand language acquisition and linguistic differences and similarities.

Because English learners are far from monolithic, it's dangerous to paint them with one brush, especially when it comes to teaching reading. It is critical that we consider students first, before considering content. It's also important that language acquisition be addressed in balance with reading instruction. All states have language standards to support linguistic development.

ELs may not have had the same opportunities with English as native English speakers, but they have other experiences with language, including speaking and hearing another language since birth. And in addition to language, students enter classrooms with backgrounds and experiences that influence their ability to read.

Additional factors come into play when teaching reading to English learners. If a child has already "cracked the code" in their first language (L1)-so that they understand the connections between sounds and symbols-reading instruction will differ from that of a child who has not yet cracked the code in their L1. Some factors to consider include:

the student's first language proficiency (listening, speaking, reading, and writing),

the student's current English language proficiency,

the student's background knowledge and opportunities,

the student's access to language at home, and

similarities and differences between the student's first language and English (cognates and written features).

The primary grades are traditionally highly language-rich environments. Many students, no matter their language experience, are emergent readers and writers. At this very early stage of school, phonemic awareness and phonics should be explicitly and systematically taught to all learners. This helps students learn to crack the code. Since reading is not a natural experience, students must be taught to lift letters off the page, turn them into sounds, connect sounds, and make words.

Decoding, however, is only one aspect of reading-another is comprehension. ELs who already read in their L1 can transfer knowledge and skills they've learned to acquiring English. Some may also benefit from individualized, explicit phonics instruction. For example, a third-grade newcomer EL from Venezuela may need additional support with English letters and sounds that are nonexistent in Spanish. Formatively assessing students' first language reading by listening to them read in their L1, asking them questions about their reading life, and/or talking to caregivers about their reading experiences will help teachers make instructional decisions.

There is much we can learn from observing a child read in their primary language even if we don't speak or understand the language. The simple act of sitting side-by-side with a student and observing them with a book in their language allows us to see how they interact with text, and we can listen for expression and watch for visual clues of engagement or excitement.

What Do ELs need?

ELs need high quality tier one reading instruction. Here are some characteristics of tier one reading instruction that is designed to meet ELs' cognitive, affective, and linguistic needs.

Cognitive needs: Instruction provides ELs with access to grade-level state standards with the support of second language acquisition methods. Teachers can set high expectations for ELs while providing them with supports such as:

Native language resources,

Visuals and gestures,

Opportunities to listen and speak with peers,

Sentence stems for speaking and writing, and

Content and language objectives.

Affective needs: Instruction supports ELs' confidence, self-assurance, positive identity, and self-efficacy as readers. Teachers can provide a safe environment for reading that follows a gradual release of responsibility and represents all learners by:

Building a strong classroom community,

Fostering a love of literacy,

Allowing and encouraging reading in L1, and

Providing books that represent students' experiences.

Linguistic needs: Instruction supports ELs' English proficiency and bridges or leverages students' first language and uses English Language Proficiency Standards and grade level state standards to guide students to reach literacy goals for listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

This work is not the sole responsibility of the English as a second language teacher but rather a collaborative effort by all stakeholders.

3 Ways Teachers Can Help Motivate ELs as Readers

Motivation to read is built by creating environments where students want to pick up books and then don't want to put them down. Here are three ways teachers can create conditions to motivate ELs as readers.

1. Provide books that represent students: Rudine Sims Bishop wrote about the importance of seeing ourselves and learning about the world and others in books we read. Providing rich bookshelves with selections that represent students and their experiences can help students feel connected, build community, and motivate students to turn the pages.

2. Factor in student choice and interest in reading materials: Readers are more apt to read and understand a book they find interesting than one they don't. They bring their own experiences and background knowledge to the text. By removing limits, such as letting ELs read books in their primary language, we leverage their assets and increase engagement and reading growth.

3. Increase student talk and interaction: By definition, ELs are acquiring English. They benefit from multiple opportunities to listen, speak, read, and write in English. Saving space for students to talk about the books they are reading is an excellent way to help them think about their reading and comprehension.

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An Asset-Based Approach to Supporting English Learners' Reading Skills

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English Language Learners A look at what English learners need in order to develop the skills and motivation to improve their ability to read in English. ZUMA Press Inc / Alamy Stock Photo English learners (ELs) are the fastest growing group of students in the United States, and the NEA expects that by the year 2025, roughly one fourth of our students will be ELs.

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Video 4: Real-time Feedback and Flexibility

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Video 4: Real-time Feedback and Flexibility