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Method for teaching vocabulary that is supposed to be highly effective.

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In my last post, I shared briefly about a strategy that I use to build vocabulary for my beginning English Language Learners (ELLs) called the K.I.M. Strategy. Today I want to share with you in more detail about what this strategy is, why I use it, and how I differentiate it to meet the needs of ALL students.

The K.I.M. Strategy is a low prep, high yield strategy that supports ALL levels of learners across ALL content areas. Now, you can't get much better than that!

What is it? It's a direct vocabulary instruction strategy. The acronym stands for Key word, Important information, Memory clue and S entence. I have my students do this right inside their notebooks (no-prep), but you could also use a graphic organizer or vocabulary booklet (low-prep).

Why I use it! I use it because it's effective in building vocabulary, and my students enjoy it. As vocabulary grows, so does comprehension. I teach English language learners who happen to be of low socio-economic status. Those are two subgroups who come to school with significantly lower vocabulary knowledge than their English only and higher SES peers. I believe explicit vocabulary instruction is a crucial component of instruction, especially for kids in these subgroups. However, as we know, every child benefits from direct and purposeful vocabulary instruction. I say purposeful because looking up definitions in a dictionary is not purposeful, or meaningful, IMO.

How I use it! In my students' notebooks, I have designated a section to vocabulary. This includes notebooks across content areas (math, science & social studies).

The K.I.M. Strategy format is easily modified to meet the needs of students. For example, my beginning English language learners build their basic vocabulary using K.M.S. because they are new to the language, I do not have them add "Important information;" I simply want them to learn words and what they are.

My intermediate and higher students always include K.I.M., and usually add "S" for a sentence as a follow up activity.

A typical vocabulary lesson looks something like this... Before I give my students a word, I show them examples, pictures or drawings of the word. Then I'll say, this is a "_____." So, what do you think "_____" means? I let them explore the meaning first based on the visuals that I provide. I then steer them to the important information that they need to add in their notebook.

Here's a recent example with my 6th grade math group. They were starting a geometry unit and needed to learn some new vocabulary. I used the document camera to project my notebook.

The visual of my notebook provides them with a scaffold to ensure accuracy with their spelling and the "important information" of new terms. Memory clues and sentences are independent activities.

First, they drew 6 KIM boxes for their 6 new words...

... then, I drew various sized and shaped quadrilaterals on the whiteboard.

I said, "These are all quadrilaterals. What do you think a quadrilateral is?" Hands shot up and students shared their guesses. With teacher support, we narrowed down the information to the most important information. Students then filled in the Key word - quadrilateral, the Important information - 4 sided shape with 4 angles, then they drew a quick picture for a M emory clue.

Next, I drew several examples of parallel lines and told them that these lines are parallel. "What do you think the word parallel means?" Again, hands shot up. After that, a right angle, and so on...

On this day I did not have them write a sentence because of time constraints, but that could be a follow up activity at a different time or day.

When I do direct vocabulary instruction, I typically teach about 5 new words in a lesson, but that can vary. I also typically add a fun, kinesthetic activity as an exit ticket. Recently I needed to teach my students just 2 words, "ascending" and "descending." We did the K.I.M. Strategy for those 2 terms, then towards the end of class we did a quick human number line activity! I passed out index cards with a percent written on each, then told them to get into "ascending" order. Once that was complete, I mixed them up and told them to get into "descending" order.

For the follow up activity of the geometry terms, I wrote each term on an index card, and corresponding pictures on another. I randomly passed out all the cards and told them to find the classmate who has the matching term or picture for their card, then stand next to each other. That was their exit ticket for that day.

We are a good ways into the school year now, so my students know the process and expectations of using the K.I.M. strategy, however, when the strategy was first introduced, I did provide an anchor chart for students to use as a reference.

If you are looking for a new way to incorporate direct vocabulary instruction into your lessons, I think you'll find this strategy to be effective, engaging and super easy to implement. I also think that your students will find it to be a fun way to learn new vocabulary. It's my go-to strategy this year for teaching new vocabulary.

If you have a great strategy for direct vocabulary instruction, I'd love to hear about it!

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K.I.M. - A Highly Effective Strategy to Build Vocabulary Across Any Content Area - A Walk in the Chalk

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In my last post, I shared briefly about a strategy that I use to build vocabulary for my beginning English Language Learners (ELLs) called the K.I.M.

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A collection of dictionaries for English Learners

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A collection of dictionaries for English Learners

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Here is a list of my favorite free online dictionaries for learners of English. These are the English dictionaries that I actually use myself in my day-to-day work here at Better At English, dictionaries that I find truly useful.

Dictionaries for learning English

Collins English Dictionary

I've been a fan of the Collins Cobuild approach to language reference and teaching materials ever since I started teaching English. Why? Because the Collins materials are all taken from a huge bank of authentic, real English conversations and texts.
On the Collins dictionary main page you can look up words and get translations in many languages. There is also a thesaurus to help you build your vocabulary and find just the right word you are looking for. There are audio examples of many of the words so you can hear the pronunciation. And it's all free!

Reverso is an incredibly powerful tool you can use to learn English. The interface is a bit clumsy, and you need to spend some time exploring the site to learn what happens when you click the different links. But it is WELL worth it.
You can get definitions and example sentences of English words and phrases. Reverso does translation too, currently between Dutch, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, and Japanese.

I have found the translation feature is a great help when I'm preparing to meet my teacher on italki for my speaking practice lessons. It makes it easy to look up words and phrases that I think I will need for the lesson, so I can feel prepared. And if I get stuck while speaking because I don't know a word, I can quickly look it up and keep talking.

Another super useful feature is the "context" page. You can enter a word or phrase and see many example sentences with it in context. Even better, the examples are translated for you too. This is extremely useful if, for example, you are trying to get the feel for a phrasal verb in English.

Foboko example sentence dictionary

When you are learning new words, it's helpful to see many example sentences of the word to put it into some kind of context. Foboko lets you type in a word and see many example sentences. It even has informal words and slang. You don't get definitions or explanations of the word, but if you are looking for example sentences it's a great place to check.

Free Online English Collocation Dictionary

Collocations are word combinations that tend to occur together. Using common collocations helps your English sound more natural. You can look up words and see their common collocations on the free Ozdic.com site.

Cambridge Dictionary Index

This is a list of the useful Cambridge dictionaries available for free online. There are many of them linked to from the Cambridge Dictionary homepage, including American English, British English, a Learner's dictionary, and several bi-lingual dictionaries.

Here is the direct link to the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary,

my favorite English learner's dictionary. The language is simplified for intermediate level learners. You can search for idioms and phrasal verbs too. Just type the phrasal verb or idiom in the search box and the results pop right up for you.

Oxford Learner's dictionaries online.

Features: British and American English, synonyms, grammar, and many other resources. You can click to hear the pronunciation of words too.

Longman dictionary of contemporary English online.

Features: British and American English, collocations, phrases, and a wealth of other useful information. There are also clickable pronunciation links so you can hear what the words sound like.

https://www.foboko.com/sentence-dictionary/english/

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The best free online dictionaries for English learners

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A list of the most useful free online dictionaries for English learners.

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All educators are teachers of language, but not every educator has time to learn the strategies to teach language. That's the purpose of Bathroom Briefs (BB). Each Monday, I physically post a new BB in the faculty bathroom. They offer a quick, easily accessible strategy that can be used cross-content.

You are free to use these, modify them, translate them as needed. Please just reference that you got them from the site. I'd love to see them and share them on Twitter, so please tag me (@TanKHuynh) in your tweets when you tape them up in your schools or when you create your own.

In the December 2019/January 2020 issue of ASCD's Education Leadership, Bathroom Briefs was featured as something newsworthy for teachers.

I've created classroom-ready posters for these academic command terms for you to post in your classroom. I hope they support your ELs in all classes, not just their English.

Bathroom Brief # 6 to 8 will be sharing sentence stems with you. I have found it an indispensable tool to scaffold EL's production of ideas. However, the legendary Jana Echevarría strongly encourages that we differentiate the sentence stems. She recommended that they not be too basic for the more advanced students nor be too complex for the developing ELs. If we have a group of five ELs, there might be three different sentence stems to support ELs to share their thinking.

Here's an article she wrote on the topic called " Are Language Frames Good for Learners?" When Jana recommends something, I listen because she is one of the creators of the sheltered immersion (SIOP) approach.

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Bathroom Briefs | ELL Strategies | Empowering ELLs

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ELL Bathroom Briefs are one page infographs offering quick, easily accessible ELL strategies that can be used across cross-content areas.

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Grammarly-I wish we had school-wide subscription.

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Grammarly-I wish we had school-wide subscription.

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There is a lot to love about  Grammarly free...paid is better.

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www.indeed.com needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding.

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Not sure if this gets down to daily plans.

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The Habits of Mind - The Institute for Habits of Mind

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What are Habits of Mind? This framework for thinking is as essential now as when it was first introduced over 30 years ago. When we commit to growing the habits both individually and as a community, we become more thoughtful, responsive, and innovative. Over the years during many social, political, scientific, and economic changes, the [...]

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A Site for ESL Kids and Teachers - Free Printable Worksheets, ESL Puzzles, Interactive Games and more...

ESL Puzzles interactive PowerPoints are free and easy to use at school or in the classroom. Powerpoint provides an excellent visual aid for teachers and students, when eliciting language, reviewing vocabulary and grammar or playing fun ppt games that kids enjoy. Download our ppt slides and enhance your classroom experience when teaching ESL, English and language. Please like or share our content by using the on-screen ESL Puzzles widget.

Free PowerPoint Grammar Games

PowerPoint Grammar Games

PowerPoint Vocabulary Games

Interactive Grammar Games

Interactive Vocabulary Games

Printables

Grammar Games

Vocabulary Games

Templates

Flashcards

Links

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Grammar PowerPoints | Puzzle Worksheets | Interactive Games | Flashcards

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esl puzzles, puzzles for kids, kids pdf worksheets, printable worksheets, vocabulary games, grammar games, kids grammar games, free esl downloads, esl games for kids, esl activities, games, powerpoint games, exercises for esl young learners, esl cafe, classroom games, esl flashcards, english pages for young learners, esl printables, children, flashcards, esl phonics worksheets

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Several Escape rooms on here for learning English. Lots of games and ideas. Can have a free account.

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Escape room games are great activities for engaging and motivating your ESL students, whilst putting their problem-solving skills to the test. If you want to challenge your English language learners a little more, but don't have time to set up a real-life escape room game for them, download some of these PowerPoint puzzles. They can be played in online classes, or in your classroom on a big screen/whiteboard.

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4 Escape Room Puzzles for Teaching ESL - Twinkl

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Escape room games are great activities for engaging and motivating your ESL students, whilst putting their problem-solving skills to the test. If you want to challenge your English language learners a little more, but don't have time to set up a real-life escape room game for them, download some of these PowerPoint puzzles.

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It's a lot of choosing the correct answer with interactive graphics. Good for reinforcing concepts.

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Leveraging Games for Enhanced K-12 Primary Education in ESL, Math, and Science

In a world where screens have become ubiquitous, leveraging technology for educational purposes has never been more relevant. Enter the realm of online gaming-not just any gaming, but educational games designed for K-12 primary students. In this expansive guide, we will delve into the multifaceted benefits of using online games to enhance English as a Second Language (ESL), Math, and Science education. Get ready to play ESL games online, dabble in math adventures, and explore the fascinating universe of science games that are cool.

Play ESL Games Online: Transforming Language Learning

Games for ESL: More Than Just Fun and Games

When it comes to learning English as a second language, play becomes a powerful tool. Online games offer a unique blend of fun and educational content designed to help ESL learners grasp new concepts, from vocabulary to sentence structure, and even cultural nuances. Playing ESL games online creates a less intimidating environment for learners, allowing them to absorb language elements more naturally.

Building Blocks of Language: Vocabulary and Grammar

The most basic, yet crucial aspects of language learning, are vocabulary and grammar. ESL games often include exercises to match words with pictures, spell words correctly, and form sentences. This playful approach facilitates easier understanding and retention of language fundamentals.

Find Cool Games for Math: Making Numbers Fun

Why Play Math Games Online?

The conventional way of learning math-through rote memorization and repetition-often leaves students bored and unengaged. When you play math games online, you bring an element of fun into the equation, literally. Math games convert abstract concepts into tangible problems that require critical thinking. This makes it easier for young minds to grasp these concepts while having fun.

Math Gaming Categories

Whether it's solving puzzles, going on treasure hunts, or participating in virtual math competitions, online platforms offer a wide range of math games. You can find cool games for math that range from simple addition and subtraction to complex algebraic equations.

Play Science Games Online: Discover, Learn, Innovate

Science Games That Are Cool

How can you make science, often seen as a complex and challenging subject, enjoyable for primary students? The answer lies in integrating games into the educational process. When students play science games online, they experience hands-on learning that fosters curiosity and deepens understanding.

A Universe of Topics

The realm of science is broad, encompassing biology, physics, chemistry, earth sciences, and more. Online platforms often offer games for science that cover these various subjects, each designed to address specific educational standards and outcomes.

Primary Games for Holistic Learning
What Makes Primary Games Different?
When we talk about primary games, we refer to games explicitly designed for younger learners in the K-12 spectrum. These games are simplified yet engaging, covering the core subjects of ESL, Math, and Science. They are crafted to be age-appropriate, ensuring that students not only learn but also enjoy the process.
Primary the Games: Customization and Curriculum
The beauty of primary games lies in their customization options. Teachers and educators can tailor these games to align with the curriculum, making them an excellent supplemental learning tool.
FAQs: Why Are Games Important in Primary Education?
Q1: What is the significance of using games in primary education?
A: Games turn learning into an engaging and interactive experience. They help in improving focus, enhancing retention, and building problem-solving skills, all of which are crucial in primary education.

Q2: How can games be beneficial for ESL learners?
A: Games can offer a stress-free environment where ESL learners can practice language skills without the fear of making mistakes. They also facilitate better retention of vocabulary and grammar rules.

Q3: Are online math games effective for learning?
A: Absolutely! Online math games transform abstract concepts into interactive challenges, making it easier for students to understand and apply them.

Q4: Do science games offer practical knowledge?
A: Yes, many science games simulate real-world scenarios, encouraging students to apply scientific principles and learn through experimentation.

Q5: How do primary games align with traditional education?
A: Many primary games are designed to correlate with standard educational curriculums, making them an excellent supplement to traditional classroom teaching.

In conclusion, the digital age offers an abundance of opportunities to make learning a more engaging and enjoyable process. Whether it's ESL, Math, or Science, there's an online game tailored to make mastering each subject a thrilling adventure. So go ahead, enrich your primary educational journey with an array of games that not only educate but also entertain.

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Games for Learning English, Vocabulary, Grammar Games, Activities, ESL

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ESL Games Plus offers interactive online games for learning and teaching English as a Second Language. Our learning games are mostly suitable for teaching ESL Kids and Teenagers. There are activities for teaching and practising English grammar, vocabulary, sentences, listening and pronunciation skills.

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List of Websites for teaching math and English

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List of Websites for teaching math and English

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As part of our #SupportELL series, we have summarized some products, services and tools that support English Language Learners (ELLs) and their teachers. To gather information from education technology companies, Getting Smart invited education technology companies to fill out a form to provide information on their ELL adaptations.
This is not an endorsement of any particular product, tool or service. When making decisions about specific tools for teachers and students, we strongly encourage research and application demonstrations for applicability in your context, as well as alignment to current new state standards.
If you would like to join the conversation and share other tools, please use#SupportELL on social media to contribute specific technology-enabled tools.
We know tech tools, when integrated with other research-backed instructional practices, can support ELLs. Consider the following user case study:

Math Supports for ELLs

Students at Dunbar Elementary School are given access to computers and use DreamBox Learning for closing gaps in math. All students, regardless of academic achievement, work together using DreamBox Learning. Students of various abilities are able to work at their own pace. This district approach is part of what they call the Grade Level Proficiency Project (GLPP).

"The independent math assessment, Let's Go Learn, documented incredible progress from January 2014 to May 2014 for students in the GLPP: 91 percent of second-graders were at second- or third-grade level-up from 65 percent-and 93 percent of third-graders were at third- or fourth- grade level-up from 43 percent. Principal Blake of Dunbar Elementary summed up her assessment of the program, 'In my 31 years in education, this is one of the most exciting programs in which I have been involved. Already I have teachers coming up to me asking when they can be trained, get involved and be part of the GLPP model. Schools need many kinds of teaching, many kinds of technology tools and many kinds of practices to ensure all students are at grade level in reading and math by the third grade. GLPP is the model to get us there. I am grateful beyond measure for the support and opportunity to reach this goal.'"

The following table includes a list of tools and products, a brief description, their typical use (Supplemental, Intervention or Core Curriculum).

Tool/Product

Brief Description

Ideal Use

Use (1)

Grade Level(s)

Mirrors & Windows is a diverse English Language Arts program that covers reading, writing, speaking, listening and language (grammar and vocabulary). The program provides a differentiated instruction supplement for ELLs which includes guided reading questions, vocabulary development lessons, speaking and listening activities, fluency assessments, and selection summaries in Spanish with audio support. Also, ELL-specific activities are annotated in the Teacher's Edition margins.

Mirrors & Windows English Language Learner support is designed to be used in the regular 6-12 English Language Arts classroom as differentiated instruction for non-native English speakers.

C

6-12

ThinkCERCA
A personalized literacy platform that helps teachers grow students' critical thinking powers in reading and writing with lessons in English language arts, science, social studies and math. All lessons currently feature vocabulary support, topic overviews to support big ideas and development of schemas, fluent and expressive audio readings of all texts, sentence frames to support development of productive academic language, graphic organizers and a structured writing process that helps students organize their thinking and develop conceptual understanding to facilitate comprehension. Starting in the fall of 2016, ThinkCERCA will provide lesson-specific supports for ELL students and their teachers for all applied writing lessons.

A whole-team implementation in which students use ThinkCERCA three to five times per month across the curriculum.

S

A digital and small group math resource featuring personalized digital lessons and small group teaching and learning for every day of the year. Zearn uses specific instructional strategies to make math content more accessible to English learners, including optional audio support for all questions and prompts, and the ability for students to construct their math using digital manipulatives, which provides them with precise feedback at the exact moment of misunderstanding.

Independent Zearn time and teacher-led small group instruction.

C

2-4

(full K-5 offering coming in the fall)

Typical use: C= Core curriculum, S= Supplemental, I= Intervention

This blog is part of the Supporting English Language Learners Series with support from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For more, stay tuned for the culminating podcast, infographic and publication.
For more, see:
Stay in-the-know with all things EdTech and innovations in learning by signing up to receive the weekly Smart Update . This post includes mentions of a Getting Smart partner. For a full list of partners, affiliate organizations and all other disclosures please see our Partner page

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20 Math and ELA Tools that Support English Language Learners

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As part of our #SupportELL series, we have summarized some products, services and tools that support English Language Learners (ELLs) and their teachers. To gather information from education technology companies, Getting Smart invited education technology companies to fill out a form to provide information on their ELL adaptations.

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She has a blog and teaches grade 4-5 ESOL

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I teach 5th and 6th grade math to beginning English language learners. This post shares 3 critical strategies that support ELLs in the understanding of math concepts AND in the language of math. These are three "must haves" for any math classroom with ESL students, especially those with newcomers!

"Math is a universal language." Have you heard this saying? I must admit, it's drives me a little crazy! Have you seen "standardized" testing? There is a LOT of language involved in math, and for students who are new to the country, this poses a lot of obstacles. Not only do we teach grade level math concepts to our students, but we also need to teach the language of math.

So how can we best support our beginning ELLs in math? There is a reason I put vocabulary instruction at the top of the list. It simply cannot be ignored if we want our students to be successful.

1 - Vocabulary Instruction
There are three types of vocabulary: tier 1 is basic vocabulary, tier 2 is grade level vocabulary (terms most native English speakers are familiar with), and tier 3 is low frequency content specific vocabulary. ALL students need explicit instruction in the third tier!Being aware of all 3 types is important, and knowing your students is key in deciding which words might need front-loading before a lesson.

Ex. of Tier 1 Basic Vocabulary - tall, short, fast, long, more, less, far, close, heavy, light, around, cover, most, many, about, big, small, fill, full, empty, all, etc.

Ex. of Tier 2 "Grade Level" Vocabulary (math language) - increase, decrease, greatest, least, altogether, replace, combine, random, weight, length, opposite, distance, etc.

Ex. of Tier 3 Content Vocabulary - ratio, probability, quadrilaterals, polygons, equations, diameter, circumference, coefficient, variable, volume, capacity, scalene, kilometer, etc.

In classrooms with beginning ELLs, vocabulary is one of the main focuses of instruction. Terms from all 3 levels need to be explicitly taught. Analyzing the math lesson during the planning phase and looking for terms that need front-loading is vital to providing comprehensible instruction. On days that I'm introducing a new concept, I KNOW that my primary focus is on vocabulary.
---- Vocabulary Building Activities ----
I use the KIM Strategy for direct vocabulary instruction. To read a post about this highly effective vocabulary strategy, click HERE.

Key vocabulary is introduced, a simple kid friendly definition is produced and visual "memory clue" is illustrated.

Make vocabulary fun:)

Write terms on one set of cards and visuals or examples on another set, then pass out cards to students. As an "exit ticket" they must find their matching partner.

The vocabulary terms on this day were "ascending" and "descending." My sixth graders used the KIM strategy in their notebooks at the beginning of class. We practiced putting numbers (fractions, decimals, percents) in ascending and descending order. At the end of class, I passed out index cards with percentages, and their "exit" task was to get into descending order. Then I mixed the cards up and asked them to get into ascending order.

I always add an interactive notebook activity, or a foldable activity, to follow up. This resource provides students with a reference during their independent work time. These also are used as study tools before unit assessments.

To find these math resources, click HERE.

The direct vocabulary instruction always come first, then I find ways to get my students up and out of their seats for fun vocabulary building activities. This physical activity helps to solidify their understanding. An interactive notebook, or foldable, activity usually follows. Then we practice using the vocabulary throughout the unit with sentence frames to support their language acquisition.

2 - Visuals and Anchor Charts
Beginning ELLs do the majority of their learning by watching. Meaningful visuals are key to their understanding. My lessons are loaded with visuals and I am constantly drawing pictures to show what something means. I really wish I could draw!!

It's always a challenge, but my students get a kick out of my efforts. LOL! If only it could be this simple...

It would be so much easier for me, and for them! :)

Color coding is also an effective visual strategy. My students copied this capacity "diagram" in their math notebooks using 5 different colors.

Add visuals to math notebooks for each lesson so that students have a reference.

On the left hand page is a visual chart for the "Types of Lines" vocabulary. To be successful with independent activities, such as centers and homework, they have everything they need in their notebooks.
Use images that relate math to the real world around them.

I often use the"Essential Questions for 6th Grade Math" pages by The Illustrated Classroom. They've been a real life saver to me! The visuals are great and the text is simplified. I print them at 75%, cut the excess edges off, then have my students glue them into their notebooks. It works great!

Create a visual math word wall. I use this word wall, also by The Illustrated Classroom. Another math reference tool with visuals, and a great place to introduce AND review content vocabulary.

Math Videos - I absolutely love using short math videos in class, especially the ones on You Tube by NumbeRock!!

The visuals are spot on, and each video is short, only about 2-3 minutes. My students love them and can see the math concepts in action. These videos are often a part of my introductory lessons.

I also use Brain Pop Jr. videos.

Even though the "Jr." version is for grades K-3, the focus is on vocabulary, and the language is simplified, so compared to the upper elementary BP version, I find that it's a better fit for my beginning 5th and 6th graders.

Creating anchor charts is also invaluable. Pinterest is such a great place to find inspiration for math anchor charts! It's my go-to destination for ideas! As long as we are learning about a concept, the anchor chart stays up for viewing. When we go back to review at the end of the year for state assessments, or spiral back to a concept later, the anchor chart gets pulled out again. Some charts stay up all year!

The most important thing to remember about teaching beginning English language learners, IMO, is that you need to show the concept visually FIRST, along with explicit vocabulary instruction. Even with definitions, adding a visual can be "worth a thousand words." ;)

When I am planning a math lesson, I think to myself, "How can I show this concept to my students?" And... "Where can I add meaningful visuals?" If I'm teaching fractions, I want to show them parts of a whole. Maybe that means breaking a Hershey's candy bar into pieces, or cutting a pan of brownies into equal parts. (I see a chocolate theme happening here!) If I am teaching probability, I want to show the concepts of certain, impossible, likely and unlikely.

It's all about Visuals - Visuals - Visuals!!
3 - Hands On Activities
Manipulative and hands-on activities are a great way for students to see "how" math works. Cubes, tiles, measuring tools, foldable activities, food, tangrams, fraction pieces, dice and games are just some ways we can get our students working on and practicing math skills. When students are using their hands, they are focused on "doing" something, compared to when they are note taking or using receptive skills to understand a lesson or new vocabulary. Here they get to practice and try out their math thinking. It's also a great way for ME to see what they understand, as well as what might need clarifying. When math is FUN, and students have had both vocabulary building and meaningful visuals beforehand, the hands-on activities are where they can dive in and practice what they've learned.

Vocabulary, visuals and hands-on activities are the 3 must-have strategies for any math classroom with English language learners, especially beginners. Here's an example of all 3 in action.

Direct Vocabulary Instruction - term: "Data - a collection of information (facts, numbers, measurements)" Students copy this in their notebooks.

Visuals - Bar Graph Anchor Chart: Question Posed- "Which color do you like best?"

Collecting Data - Students come up and color in their favorite color choice. Then we analyze the the data. I ask questions like, Which color did most students like best? Which color did the least, or smallest, number of students like best? Which color did no students like the best? How many students chose the color red? How many students chose the color green? etc... This is a great time to build that tier 1 and 2 vocabulary.

Next, I want to model how to take this data and show it in a different way using a circle graph. See pics below.

>>> Data and Statistics - Day 2 <<<

We review the data from the circle graph and then convert fractions to percents in a whole group setting.

Hands-On Activity - My students gather data and use it to create their own circle graph. They will also convert fractions to percents.

They each get a baggie of skittles and predict how many are inside. Then they take out the skittles and gather their data. They count and note the amount for each color. Next they write the fraction for each color and convert that number into a decimal. Last, they create the circle graph the same way I modeled with the colored strips the day before. (The M&M Lab Activity by Lisa Tilmon can be found here.) My students all had a firm understanding of data collection after these 2 days. My teacher heart was smiling:)

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Vocabulary -- Visuals -- Hands-On Activities -- Oh Yea!!

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I hope that you found some helpful tips in this post. I'd love to hear about a strategy that you find to be a "must-have" when working with beginning English language learners!

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Math Strategies for Beginning English Language Learners

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An educational blog for sharing ideas, strategies and resources that support teachers of English Language Learners.

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Dictionary with simple definitions. Lacking images to illustrate words.

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Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary: Definitions & Meanings

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The most popular dictionary and thesaurus. Meanings & definitions of words in Learner English with examples, synonyms, pronunciations and translations.

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This is both for students and teachers. Tons of resources

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:))) because people speak English

Welcome to EnglishClub for learners and teachers of English. Here you'll find all you need to help you learn or teach English.

Divided Kingdom video: welcome to a kingdom divided. In modern-day Britain, prejudice and discrimination affect the lives of two individuals, leading to a shocking confrontation with a dangerous and uncertain ending. With subtitles & classroom materials (12:33)

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EnglishClub.com - Learn or Teach English Today

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Free online resources for learning English 🇬🇧🇺🇸 or teaching it. From easy guides to grammar to fun games and quizzes.

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This has a great collection of picture dictionaries around certain topics such as verbs.

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ESL Printable Action Verbs Vocabulary Worksheets, Picture Dictionaries, Matching Exercises, Word Search and Crossword Puzzles, Missing Letters in Words and Unscramble the Words Exercises, Multiple Choice Tests, Flashcards, Vocabulary Learning Cards, ESL Fidget Spinner and Dominoes Games

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ESL Printable Action Verbs Vocabulary Worksheets, Picture Dictionaries, Matching Exercises, Word Search and Crossword Puzzles, Missing Letters in Words and Unscramble the Words Exercises, Multiple Choice Tests, Flashcards, Vocabulary Learning Cards, ESL Fidget Spinner and Dominoes Games

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Figure 1.1. Restorative Practices Logic ModelFigure 1.2. When You Were a VictimFigure 1.3. When You Were an OffenderFigure 1.4.

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This is Diane's Padlet. She is a national presenter on TESOL and she addresses 4 or 5 areas to think about when teaching ESOL students, especially at the secondary level. Technical or CTE programs are one of the focuses.

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Interactive Hundreds Chart | Toy Theater

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Use this online hundreds chart to practice counting to one hundred, for modeling math problems, for skip counting, and more! Try it, it’s free!

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Full curriculum of lessons for all levels. Teacher led with resources to back you up. Many free resources or do a paid membership.

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The Best ESL Curriculum for Schools – Engaging, - Kid-Inspired

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Download Brochure Get a Quote -> Evidence-Based ESL Curriculum Kid-Inspired ESL teaching materials were developed under a strict commitment to evidence-based results. Over the course of more than a

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This is a site with a number of audio books that promote literacy along with nonfiction subjects. I especially like the math ones for beginning to teach math vocabulary.

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Unite for Literacy provides free digital access to picture books, narrated in many languages. Literacy is at the core of a healthy community, so we unite with partners to enable all families to read with their young children.

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Tons of games and practice for everything from grammar to vocabulary.

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Subscribe To YouTube

Website Content
ESL, ESL Kids World, Kids, worksheets, printable worksheets, kids worksheets, interactive games, esl games for kids, esl activities, Games, Powerpoint games, interactive, exercises for esl young learners, classroom games, esl flashcards, pdf, daves esl cafe,Young learners, printables, children, flashcards, pdf worksheets, phonics
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Hi! At eslkidsworld.com we offer free ESL Printable Worksheets, and more for ESL/EFL kids lesson planning. Teach ESL kids with ease. Please contact us for any questions, partnerships, or advertising needs.

At ESL Kids world we offer high quality printable PDF worksheets for teaching young learners. These worksheets include among others: colouring sheets, crossword and wordsearch puzzles, grammar, and much more. Designed by ESL professionals, the sheets will help teachers of kids in their lesson plans.

For Young Learners of English, the teaching of phonics often takes centre-stage. This is why we have a whole section cramped with phonics materials and teaching resources. You will find printables, interactive materials and more.

Our online store allows our customers to buy high quality worksheets, phonics, flashcards, puzzles and powerpoint sets to aid teachers in the classroom. Armed with these esl materials teaching will be fun and fresh for young learners of English. Along with students, teachers will excel in the world of esl learning.

With a rich collection of flashcards, properly arranged by topics, you are armed with more high quality materials for teaching kids. Our flashcards are in PDF format which makes for easy printing and use. This is in line with aim of our site which is to provide easy-to-use materials for teachers and students.

The artistic nature of kids brains has them ready-made for games and fun activities. Our games easily appeal to young learners as they are based on real experiences in the classroom. Tested and proven to work, these games are a rich addition to your lesson plans.

Songs relax and get rid of negative emotions. We have all heard of the affective filter which describes the phenomenon in language learning that negative emotions greatly hamper learning. Songs have the magical effect of getting rid of these negative emotions. With our collection of songs you will be teaching lessons to students who are positively engaged.

The age of interactive whiteboards and overhead projectors are here to stay - enter powerpoint. With powerpoint presentations like we have on this site, you will present new language more vividly

Some students learn by playing games and solving puzzles on the computer. With these fun quizzes, kids will do a lot of self-education.

ESL Phonics World Games - 100's of Phonics Games for Preschool and Kindergarten Kids. Phonics World create interactive online phonics games to help teach children the relationship between letters and sounds and develop the skills needed to read and write. All our resources are designed by an experienced team of teachers.

Kids ESL Games - There is a selection of games that students can use to practice learning English in a fun way. It is primarily aimed at ESL students, but young children may also benefit from our vocabulary games. A collection of online ESL Games and activities for young learners. Ideal for interactive whiteboards and online classes.

ESL Puzzles - Enjoy a wide range of fun, interactive English games ( grammar and vocabulary) and activities that are perfect for kids learning English as well as teachers looking for free educational resources online. EFL activities for kids, ESL games, grammar and vocabulary games for preschool, primary English learners.

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Subscribe To YouTube Website Content ESL, ESL Kids World, Kids, worksheets, printable worksheets, kids worksheets, interactive games, esl games for kids, esl activities, Games, Powerpoint games, interactive, exercises for esl young learners, classroom games, esl flashcards, pdf, daves esl cafe,Young learners, printables, children, flashcards, pdf worksheets, phonics report this ad Hi!

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Games are well coded. A lot of direction reading that students may or may not understand.

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Leveraging Games for Enhanced K-12 Primary Education in ESL, Math, and Science

In a world where screens have become ubiquitous, leveraging technology for educational purposes has never been more relevant. Enter the realm of online gaming-not just any gaming, but educational games designed for K-12 primary students. In this expansive guide, we will delve into the multifaceted benefits of using online games to enhance English as a Second Language (ESL), Math, and Science education. Get ready to play ESL games online, dabble in math adventures, and explore the fascinating universe of science games that are cool.

Play ESL Games Online: Transforming Language Learning

Games for ESL: More Than Just Fun and Games

When it comes to learning English as a second language, play becomes a powerful tool. Online games offer a unique blend of fun and educational content designed to help ESL learners grasp new concepts, from vocabulary to sentence structure, and even cultural nuances. Playing ESL games online creates a less intimidating environment for learners, allowing them to absorb language elements more naturally.

Building Blocks of Language: Vocabulary and Grammar

The most basic, yet crucial aspects of language learning, are vocabulary and grammar. ESL games often include exercises to match words with pictures, spell words correctly, and form sentences. This playful approach facilitates easier understanding and retention of language fundamentals.

Find Cool Games for Math: Making Numbers Fun

Why Play Math Games Online?

The conventional way of learning math-through rote memorization and repetition-often leaves students bored and unengaged. When you play math games online, you bring an element of fun into the equation, literally. Math games convert abstract concepts into tangible problems that require critical thinking. This makes it easier for young minds to grasp these concepts while having fun.

Math Gaming Categories

Whether it's solving puzzles, going on treasure hunts, or participating in virtual math competitions, online platforms offer a wide range of math games. You can find cool games for math that range from simple addition and subtraction to complex algebraic equations.

Play Science Games Online: Discover, Learn, Innovate

Science Games That Are Cool

How can you make science, often seen as a complex and challenging subject, enjoyable for primary students? The answer lies in integrating games into the educational process. When students play science games online, they experience hands-on learning that fosters curiosity and deepens understanding.

A Universe of Topics

The realm of science is broad, encompassing biology, physics, chemistry, earth sciences, and more. Online platforms often offer games for science that cover these various subjects, each designed to address specific educational standards and outcomes.

Primary Games for Holistic Learning
What Makes Primary Games Different?
When we talk about primary games, we refer to games explicitly designed for younger learners in the K-12 spectrum. These games are simplified yet engaging, covering the core subjects of ESL, Math, and Science. They are crafted to be age-appropriate, ensuring that students not only learn but also enjoy the process.
Primary the Games: Customization and Curriculum
The beauty of primary games lies in their customization options. Teachers and educators can tailor these games to align with the curriculum, making them an excellent supplemental learning tool.
FAQs: Why Are Games Important in Primary Education?
Q1: What is the significance of using games in primary education?
A: Games turn learning into an engaging and interactive experience. They help in improving focus, enhancing retention, and building problem-solving skills, all of which are crucial in primary education.

Q2: How can games be beneficial for ESL learners?
A: Games can offer a stress-free environment where ESL learners can practice language skills without the fear of making mistakes. They also facilitate better retention of vocabulary and grammar rules.

Q3: Are online math games effective for learning?
A: Absolutely! Online math games transform abstract concepts into interactive challenges, making it easier for students to understand and apply them.

Q4: Do science games offer practical knowledge?
A: Yes, many science games simulate real-world scenarios, encouraging students to apply scientific principles and learn through experimentation.

Q5: How do primary games align with traditional education?
A: Many primary games are designed to correlate with standard educational curriculums, making them an excellent supplement to traditional classroom teaching.

In conclusion, the digital age offers an abundance of opportunities to make learning a more engaging and enjoyable process. Whether it's ESL, Math, or Science, there's an online game tailored to make mastering each subject a thrilling adventure. So go ahead, enrich your primary educational journey with an array of games that not only educate but also entertain.

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Games for Learning English, Vocabulary, Grammar Games, Activities, ESL

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ESL Games Plus offers interactive online games for learning and teaching English as a Second Language. Our learning games are mostly suitable for teaching ESL Kids and Teenagers. There are activities for teaching and practising English grammar, vocabulary, sentences, listening and pronunciation skills.

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Also has a great academic word list that has interactive links for each word.

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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 one of the better websites with lots of online flash games. You may need to use flash player which does not work sometimes on Chrome, but it seems to be working fine.

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Free Microcredentials working with Multilinguals and also some classes actually pay you.

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Welcome to ExcEL Leadership Academy - ExcEL Leadership Academy

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The last time I tried one of these courses it seemed to be more for non-ESOL teachers who want ideas for content classrooms.

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WIDA 2022-2023 Self-Paced Workshops are here!

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Starting September 1, any educator in your state has access to the following Self-Paced Workshops:

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This is a paid subscription site that offers tons and tons of lessons by English ability level.

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Great teachers need great content. Teach your best class every day with exceptional English lessons, flashcards, and resources from Ellii.

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Free images and can use for conversation starters.

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4.5 million+ Stunning Free Images to Use Anywhere - Pixabay - Pixabay

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Find your perfect royalty-free image or video to download and use. ✓ Royalty-free ✓ No attribution required ✓ High quality images.

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Microsoft lets you use subtitles during a lecture using Powerpoint, among other things. I am still playing with it but will give my thoughts here once I use it a bit.

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Create an inclusive classroom experience with Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint provides live captioning and translated subtitling of a teacher's lectures in many languages including English. These subtitles enable deaf or hard of hearing students and language learners to follow along with lectures and presentations.

System Requirements

Windows: Requires Windows 10, and PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 version 16.0.11601.20178 or higher

Mac: PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac version 16.22.127.0 or higher

Web (Note: multilingual subtitling is only available on the web): Compatible with the following web browsers: Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome 34+, Mozilla Firefox 25+

WiFi or cabled Internet connection. A cable connection is preferred to minimize latency.

Wear a microphone. PowerPoint subtitling works best when you wear a mic that sits close to your mouth. See the list of recommended headsets

1. In the Slide Show ribbon tab, select Subtitle Settings

2. Use Spoken Language to see the voice languages that PowerPoint can recognize and select the one you want. This is the language that you will be speaking while presenting.

3. Use Subtitle Language to see which languages PowerPoint can display on-screen as captions or subtitles and select the one you want. This is the language of the text that will be shown to your audience. Choosing the same language as your Spoken Language allows you to provide closed captioning.

You can turn subtitles on and off by using the subtitle toggle in the Slide Show View or Presenter View.

Learn more about adding subtitles and captioning in the Microsoft Office website.

If your presentation requires subtitles in multiple languages at once, PowerPoint's Live Presentation feature is native within PowerPoint for the web. With Live Presentations, students can see a presentation on their own devices and read live subtitles in their preferred language while you speak.

Live Presentations is currently only available for PowerPoint for the web. To use the feature, you will first need to save your presentation to the web.

1. In the Slide Show ribbon tab, select Presentation Live.

2. A QR code will appear on the screen. Have your students scan the code and the presentation deck will load in their devices' web browser.

3. As you speak, subtitles will be displayed on the students' screen below the deck. They can select the language of their choice in the language selection option.

Learn more about PowerPoint's Live Presentation feature in the video below.

Hold the microphone close to your mouth. Try to avoid or eliminate background noise that may interfere with your voice.

Focus on proper articulation (no mumbling) and pause between sentences so the system can catch up (it waits for a pause to finalize the translation). If you follow these two principles, there is no need to speak slowly. If you see problems in the captions or subtitles, try speaking more deliberately.

Avoid very short or very long sentences. The system (both for speech recognition and translation) uses the context of a full sentence. By providing more context, you will increase the chances for both to work better. Ideally, sentences between 5 and 15 words are perfect.

If you're bilingual, don't switch languages. PowerPoint will only understand the language you chose.
Captions and subtitles depends on a cloud-based speech service, so it's important to have an internet connection that's fast and reliable.

You can host a multilingual Q and A following your presentation using Microsoft Translator's multi-device conversation feature. Learn more here.

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Lectures and presentations - Education - Microsoft Translator

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Create an inclusive classroom experience with Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft PowerPoint provides live captioning and translated subtitling of a teacher's lectures in many languages including English. These subtitles enable deaf or hard of hearing students and language learners to follow along with lectures and presentations.

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Learn how English Learner Portal can support your educators and families.

Whether it be through face to face workshops, online workshops, coaching, collaborative lesson planning, online courses, program development ...... English Learner Portal is dedicated to helping you ensure ALL students, especially your English learners, reach their full potential.

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Supporting the teachers of English learners

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English Learner Portal is founded by teachers for teachers. We provide engaging professional development, online graduate courses, face to face workshops and resources to support teachers in developing lessons that are accessible to English learners, developing content and language simultaneously.

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What to teach Newcomers at the beginning of the school year to begin to learn English.

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Tips on what to teach newcomers/beginners

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Source for free images along with conversation starters.

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4.5 million+ Stunning Free Images to Use Anywhere - Pixabay - Pixabay

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Find your perfect royalty-free image or video to download and use. ✓ Royalty-free ✓ No attribution required ✓ High quality images.

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Can write in home languages back and forth and it translates. Great for family communication.

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TalkingPoints - Improving student outcomes through meaningful school-family partnerships.

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TalkingPoints - Improving student outcomes through meaningful school-family partnerships.

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A network of schools that specifically work with immigrant students. They list workshops, resources, job openings, and how they structure their pedagogy.

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Useful for both students and teachers. Also has a dictionary component that is supposed to help with understandable definitions.

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Rewordify.com | Understand what you read

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Rewordify.com helps you read more, understand better, learn new words, and teach more effectively.

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All sorts of resources for Long Term English Learners

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Free images and icons I can use to create content.

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Noun Project: Free Icons & Stock Photos for Everything

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Noun Project has the most diverse collection of free icons and stock photos. Download SVG and PNG. Over 5 million art-quality icons and free photos.

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Tons of websites with games. Especially listening and spelling based on sound. Very good for level 1/2

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LearnEnglish Kids is brought to you by the British Council, the world's English teaching experts. We have lots of free online games, songs, stories and activities for children. For parents, we have articles on supporting children in learning English, videos on using English at home and information about English courses for your child.

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Online listening and speaking practice for English language learners

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This video is on how to use "Resources" tab but it is a series.

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Google Classroom Classwork Tab: Creating Topics & Materials

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As the National Center for Education Statistics reports that 10% of all public school students or 4.7 million students total in the United States are English language learners (ELL), many private organizations and universities have created scholarships for ELL and ESL students. Since college students who speak English as a second language (ESL)are forced to overcome significant challenges to achieve a post-secondary education, scholarships are increasingly important for providing the financial support to enroll in appropriate language assistance programs. If you are not a native English speaker, the following are 25 of the best scholarships specifically for ESL and ELL students to access the resources you need for success in the college classroom.

1. ANU Cultural Awareness Grant for ESL Studies

Deadline: April 1st

At the English Language Institute of American National University, the Cultural Awareness Grant for ESL Studies is designed to provide up to $6,000 to international students enrolled in the ESL program who are not sponsored by their native country's embassy or other governmental agency. Eligible students whose native language is not English must be accepted for enrollment in the Directed Study portion of the beginning or advanced ESL program to receive paid increments of $500 each term.

Contact

ANU Cultural Awareness Grant for ESL Studies
9705 Liberia Avenue Suite 299
Manassas, VA 20110
(703) 962-9657
Scholarship Link

2. Collins Fund for English Language Learners Scholarship

Deadline: February 1st

With the goal of providing financial support to graduating ELL high school seniors who have a desire to continue their post-secondary education at an accredited U.S. institution, the Collins Fund for English Language Learners Scholarship grants $1,000 so that students have greater opportunities for higher education. Qualified candidates must be English language learners, have been accepted at a two or four-year college, and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 or GEM standard average score of 650.

Contact

3. Communicate and Connect Scholarship Essay Contest

Deadline: May 15th

Sponsored by Rosetta Stone, the Communicate and Connect Scholarship Essay Contest offers up to $3,000 for graduating English as a Second Language (ESL) high school seniors who compose the best original 500-word essay describing how learning English impacted their life and opened up a world of possibilities. Contest participants must be full-time matriculated high school seniors, plan on enrolling in an accredited U.S. higher learning institution, and hold citizenship status or have an official student visa.

Contact

4. Dr. Mina Houtan Foundation Scholarship

Deadline: June 1st

Annually, the Dr. Mina Houtan Foundation awards a $3,500 scholarship to ESL students of Iranian descent who fluently speak Parsi and demonstrate an active interest in promoting Iran's great culture, heritage, language, and civilization in higher education. Along with the application, students must submit two letters of recommendation, an official college transcript, a personal essay discussing goals and aspirations written in Parsi, and a letter of acceptance into an accredited four-year university.

Contact

5. Educate It Forward ELL Hispanic Heritage Scholarship

Deadline: May 14th

For outstanding graduating high school seniors of Hispanic or Latino descent, the Educate It Forward ELL Hispanic Heritage Scholarship is presented annually for $1,000 to Limited English Proficient students who are seeking the opportunity to overcome challenges for achieving the biggest life accomplishment: earning a college degree. Candidates must be nominated by an ELL teacher, be currently or formerly enrolled as an ELL secondary student, and demonstrate extraordinary academic commitment.

See also: 25 Great Scholarships for Hispanic Students

Contact

Educate It Forward ELL Hispanic Heritage Scholarship
869 Midwood Drive
North Bellmore, NY 11710
(631) 412-7193

6. ELAC Foundation Scholarship for Exceptional ESL Achievement

Deadline: March 7th

Sponsored by the East Los Angeles College (ELAC) Foundation, the Scholarship for Exceptional ESL Achievement is granted each year to honor outstanding students who are currently enrolled in 3A, 4A, 5A, or 6A ESL classes at the college and are interested in transferring to any four-year university. Eligible candidates for the $1,500 award must be making exceptional process in learning English as a Second Language, have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or better, and demonstrate financial need.

Contact

7. English for Heritage Language Speakers Scholarship Program

Deadline: August 13th

Funded by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), the English for Heritage Language Speakers Scholarship Program covers tuition and provides a modest monthly stipend to native speakers of other languages who are seeking the opportunity to achieve professional proficiency in English for pursuing a career in the U.S. government. Preference will be given to native speakers of Arabic, Dari, Hausa, Hindi, Igbo, Mandarin Chinese, Pashto, Persian Farsi, Punjabi, Somali, Swahili, and Urdu who have English skills at level 2+ on the ILR scale.

Contact

8. Emily Griffith Foundation Scholarships for ESL Students

Deadline: March 12th

Each year, the Emily Griffith Foundation awards numerous scholarship opportunities for ESL students from around the United States who want to improve their English or complete career certificate programs at Emily Griffith Technical College. Scholarships are open to all English language learners who require financial assistance to fund tuition and books, maintain 75% attendance in ESL classes, and receive a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher in all coursework.

Contact

9. Henry and Virginia Apelian American Way Scholarship

Deadline: March 1st

At Union County College, the Henry and Virginia Apelian American Way Scholarship is awarded for $2,000 to full or part-time students of Armenian descent who have completed at least 15 credit hours satisfactorily in the ESL Program. Recipients must exhibit strong academic achievement with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.8 or higher and demonstrate financial need for assistance. If there are no qualifying students of Armenian descent, priority will be given to students from Eastern European countries formed from the dissolution of the U.S.S.R.

Contact

10. International Doorway Academic Scholarship Program

Deadline: Ongoing

As the premier leader for helping thousands of international students from Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia earn an undergraduate degree at prominent American colleges, the International Doorway Academic Scholarship Program is designed for international ESL students who are seeking to improve their English proficiency skills while attending an accredited U.S. institution. Recipients can receive up to $10,000 annually for covering the costs of English studies courses, campus housing, and meal plans.

Contact

International Doorway Academic Scholarship Program
1111 Brickell Avenue 11th Floor
Miami, FL 33131
(305) 913-7122
Scholarship Link

11. J.C. Casagrande Peace Scholarship

Deadline: April 15th

Established by the University of Florida's English Language Institute (ELI) in honor of its longest serving director to celebrate international peace, the J.C. Casagrande Scholarship is granted for the value of that term's tuition cost to full-time undergraduate English language learners at the ELI who display outstanding progress in language skills with a cumulative GPA of 4.0. Recipients are chosen based on involvement in community service, ethical standards, dedication to promoting international peace, and personal initiative.

Contact

J.C. Casagrande Peace Scholarship
Normal Hall Room 315
P.O. Box 117051
Gainesville, FL 32611
(352) 392-2070
studyenglish@eli.ufl.edu

12. Jane and David Falk ESL Scholarship

Deadline: March 1st

Sponsored by the Westchester Community College Foundation, the Jane and David Falk ESL Scholarship is presented annually for $2,000 to provide financial funding to English as a Second Language students who have enrolled in at least one term in non-credit ESL coursework before entering into a degree program. Eligible candidates must demonstrate academic achievement with a GPA of 2.5 or better, exhibit financial need, and be involved in community service.

Contact

13. Jewel Keusder Memorial ESL Scholarship Fund

Deadline: May 1st

Established by Cypress College in memory of an extraordinary Reading and ESL instructor who made significant contributions to the development of the current ESL program, the Jewel Keusder Memorial ESL Scholarship Fund grants non-renewable $1,000 awards annually for non-native English speakers enrolled in advanced ESL courses on-campus. Candidates must have successfully completed at least one ESL core course at Cypress and plan to continue their education at any accredited four-year U.S. institution.

Contact

Jewel Keusder Memorial ESL Scholarship Fund
Humanities Building 2nd Floor
9200 Valley View St.
Cypress, CA 90630
(714) 484-7182
info@cypresscollege.edu

14. Kathy Chatterton Memorial Scholarships

Deadline: April 28th

In honor of a former member of the ESL Department at Los Angeles City College (LACC), the Kathy Chatterton Memorial Scholarships provide up to $500 to outstanding upper-level ESL students who are recommended by an ESL faculty member. In order to qualify, students must plan to transfer to a four-year college in the United States, have completed at least 12 units of ESL coursework, and be currently enrolled in at least six units of ESL at Level 5 or higher.

Contact

15. Kentucky ESL Student Scholarship Recognition Awards

Deadline: March 15th

Administered by the Kentucky Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (KYTESOL), the Kentucky ESL Student Scholarship Recognition Awards provides $1,000 to graduating high school ESL seniors from Kentucky high schools who have been accepted for enrollment at any two or four-year higher institution in the state. For consideration, applicants must submit a personal essay, two letters of recommendation, a high school transcript, and a college acceptance letter.

Contact

Kentucky ESL Student Scholarship Recognition Awards
115 South Miles St.
Elizabethtown, KY 42701
ky@kytesol.org

16. Leo S. Rowe Pan American Fund Scholarships

Deadline: Varies

Sponsored by the Organization of American States (OAS), the Leo S. Rowe Pan American Fund Scholarships are designed to offer up to $15,000 to undergraduate and graduate English language learners who have been admitted for studies at an accredited institution in the United States. Ideal candidates must be citizens of Latin American or Caribbean nations, show satisfactory academic records with an overall GPA of 3.0 or better, and agree to return to their country of origin within one year after graduation.

Contact

17. New Jersey ESL/Bilingual Higher Education Scholarship

Deadline: March 1st

Each year, the New Jersey ESL/Bilingual Higher Education Scholarship is presented for $1,500 for non-traditional ESL or bilingual students over the age of 25 years old who are matriculated full-time or part-time in ESL courses at a higher education institution in New Jersey. Along with the application, candidates must submit a hand-written biographical statement, an essay describing how bilingualism influences our world, a recommendation from an ESL instructor, and a current New Jersey college transcript.

Contact

18. Nora Stone Smith Scholarship for ESL/ELL Students

Deadline: March 1st

Created by the Washington Scholarship Coalition in honor of a self-educated woman who returned to school in her late 50s to complete a M.A. in Literature, the Nora Stone Smith Scholarship for ESL/ELL Students is designed to recognize deserving high school seniors who have graduated within the past year and have participated in an ESL or ESL program at some point in their lives. Regardless of citizenship status, qualified applicants can receive up to $2,000 in assistance for tuition at an accredited Washington institution.

Contact

19. Patricia M. Baggett Memorial ESL Scholarship

Deadline: December 18th

Founded by the English as a Second Language Department at Onondaga Community College in memory of a beloved tutor in the English Skills Lab, the Patricia M. Baggett Memorial ESL Scholarship will grant up to $1,000 each year for outstanding students who are currently enrolled in the ESL program. The scholarship will be awarded during the spring semester to the ESL student who has achieved the highest cumulative GPA after the fall semester.

Contact

20. SCASA Post-Secondary Scholarships for ELL High School Seniors

Deadline: April 1st

The Sonoma County Association of School Administrators (SCASA) offers $500 Post-Secondary Scholarships for graduating high school seniors in Sonoma County of California who are or have been classified as English Language Learners (ELLs) at some point during their academic career. Eligible candidates must have plans to continue their education in college full-time, submit a letter of reference, and write an original two-page essay on the challenges they have faced as a second language learner.

Contact

SCASA Post-Secondary Scholarships for ELL High School Seniors
7165 Burton Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
(707) 792-4714
karen_tedesco@crpusd.org
https://www.scoe.org/files/scasa-el-scholarship-2014.pdf

21. Shawnee Mission English Language Learner Scholarship Program

Deadline: April 14th

Sponsored by the Shawnee Mission Education Foundation for recognizing outstanding students in Shawnee Missions schools in Kansas, the Shawnee Mission English Language Learner Scholarship Program will award multiple $1,000 awards annually to assist graduating high school seniors who begin their educational career in an ELL program. Recipients must demonstrate a strong commitment to pursuing a post-secondary certificate or degree from an accredited U.S. institution.

Contact

22. The Dream.US National Scholarship Fund

Deadline: March 31st

For highly motivated dreamers who want to get a college education, the Dream US National Scholarship Fund provides up to $25,000 to graduating high school ESL or ELL students who are applying to an associate's or bachelor's degree program at partnering colleges in New York City, Miami, Washington D.C., El Paso, Rio Grande Valley, and online. Qualified candidates must be first-time college students with less than 12 credits, have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher, and meet all Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) criteria.

Contact

23. Toyota Latino English Language Learning Foundation Scholarship

Deadline: February 1st

With the goal of helping non-native English speakers become successful in their academic lives while fostering their cultural identity, the Toyota Latino English Language Learning Foundation Scholarship offers up to $1,000 to deserving ELL students who have a desire to continue their higher education at an accredited area college. Eligible Hispanic English language learners must submit a two-page personal statement, an official transcript, one letter of recommendation, and proof of community service involvement.

Contact

24. Virginia ESL Supervisors' Association Student Scholarships

Deadline: March 22nd

Annually, the Virginia ESL Supervisors' Association awards multiple Student Scholarships for up to $2,000 for graduating high school seniors who have been enrolled in an ESL program for at least one year in grades 9-12 and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better. Selection for the non-renewable awards is based on financial need, academic performance, letters of recommendation, English language skills, and commitment for pursuing higher education.

Contact

Virginia ESL Supervisors' Association Student Scholarships
1415 Amherst St.
Winchester, VA 22601
mmoore@mcpsva.org

25. Washington State International Student Transfer Scholarships

Deadline: September, December, March, and June 15th

At the City University of Seattle, 40 Washington State International Student Transfer Scholarships are available each year for $3,000 to new transfer students from two-year institutions in Washington who were enrolled in an ESL program. Qualified candidates must have satisfactorily passed ESL studies with a minimum overall GPA of 2.0 or higher, write an essay describing how a degree at CityU will help achieve future goals, and provide a list of involvement in non-academic community activities.

Contact

Overall, there are a broad range of scholarships available for helping English language learners obtain a college degree to improve their lives, better their family's situation, and benefit their entire native community. Whether you are currently an English language learner or English is your second language, be sure to check out these 25 scholarships for ELL and ELL students to discover financial assistance for achieving your dreams of academic and career success.

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25 Great Scholarships for ELL and ESL Students

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As the National Center for Education Statistics reports that 10% of all public school students or 4.7 million students total in the United States are English language learners (ELL), many private organizations and universities have created scholarships for ELL and ESL students.

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Escape Rooms!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d5qdxQFRNNPwkD2BT3yVT0DLTKuFzkOA/view?usp=sharing

Using Google slides and a google form, you create puzzles with your content. Students then have to decode and enter them into a google form to see if they are right. Fallon Sweeney did a professional development session on these last year. This is a link to her document. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bg05Njb1NUgo_gdFvTo4QLSg8qlasaTuCAO6Zroy-Fw/edit?usp=sharing

If you would like another professional development session on this, she said she would be happy to. Ask Sam for some time on one of our days!

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Eric Wade MLTI Training Asynchronous links

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Eric Wade MLTI Training Asynchronous links

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Creating Recordings with Screencastify Asynchronous Recording

Creating Recordings with Screencastify Slide Deck

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Paid subscription allows you to enter your own lists.

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Home Spelling Words - Spelling Games, Worksheets, Tests & Lists

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Home Spelling Words features free spelling games, spelling tests, and spelling lists for Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grades. Add your own spelling words from school too.

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Set of bookmarks with emphasis on EL's and a lot of poetry sites

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Set of bookmarks with emphasis on EL's and a lot of poetry sites

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Lots of teaching information and resources

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There are many pages on my main website, and they have nearly 8,000 categorized links appropriate for English Language Learners.

The best place to start exploring is the Main English Page.

You can read an overview about each section of my website on the Teacher's Page. This page also has many links specifically useful to teachers.

You can also go directly to each page of my website:
English For Beginners and Early Intermediate English Themes for Beginners and Early Intermediate English For Intermediate and Advanced English Themes for Intermediate and Advanced Bilingual Exercises For English Language Learners Examples of Student Work Science For English Language Learners Geography and United States History For English Language Learners World History For English Language Learners
The Best Websites (under construction)

I also have a page that has links to a number of articles I've written that teachers might find useful:
Published Articles
Another part of my website is oriented more towards native English speakers or advanced English Language Learners. However, many of these sections also have links accessible to Intermediate English Language Learners. This site did not necessarily grow in a logical progression.

These sections are:
Social Studies
ARW (Academic Reading and Writing) This is the name we give to the ninth-grade English class we offer at my school.

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There are many pages on my main website, and they have nearly 8,000 categorized links appropriate for English Language Learners. The best place to start exploring is the Main English Page. You can ...

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Jobs for ESL teachers all over the world as well as some great resources for teaching

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Welcome to Dave's ESL Cafe, the leading destination for all things ESL. From job opportunities and teaching resources to grammar guides and community forums, we're here to help you navigate the world of ESL. Whether you're a teacher, learner, or employer, explore a universe of possibilities with us.

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Has some good resources and a list of translators.

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Another great site filled with strategies and ideas.

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What will readers learn?

This website contains articles about language instructional practices that support multilingual learners. Each article has an infographic that synthesizes the essential information from the article. The intention of sharing these resources is to provide strategies to educators who work with multilinguals.

At times, my resources can be used across the various content area, while at other times, are more relevant for just language specialists. I know that many of you are busy and do not have time to sift through the literature, books, articles, and videos and cannot attend conferences. It is my job to curate these resources for you.

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Welcome | ML Instruction | Empowering ELLs

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Sharing ELL strategies that work. Helping ELL teachers implement classroom-tested, research-backed ELL strategies that develop social and academic language

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One of the best websites for English Language Learning teaching.

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A bilingual site for educators and families of English language learners

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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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Mass dept of Ed glossary of special Ed terms

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Mass dept of Ed glossary of special Ed terms

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Translated IEP Forms and Notices

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has the IEP Forms and Notices translated into sixteen languages. In addition there is a glossary corresponding to each language translating common special education terms.

The Evaluation Consent Form Attachment (N1A) form was updated in November 2019 to include a new checkbox for parents to indicate their request for evaluation summaries. Translated versions of this form are available by language below.

Translation Glossaries

The Individualized Education Program (IEP), related forms/notices, and the Parents' Rights Brochure have been translated into sixteen (16) languages. To further assist districts in providing translated information to parents, a translation glossary is available in each of the languages. Each translation glossary lists seventy-nine (79) English terms and their foreign language equivalents as used throughout the translated documents. You will find terms such as accommodation, developmental delay, general curriculum, initial evaluation and positive behavioral supports and agency names such as Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Bureau of Transitional Planning within each glossary. By providing these glossaries to individuals completing district-level translations, school districts will ensure that parents receive documents translated in a consistent manner.

Transition Planning Form

Effective immediately, please begin using the newly developed Transition Planning Form (TPF) 28M/9 for all students with disabilities who are 14 years of age. This form has been developed for transition planning that occurs either prior to or at the time of the annual development of the IEP. The TPF (28M/9) is a mandated form that is maintained with the IEP. As a mandated form, districts must use this format to document that transition planning has occurred. Only those aspects of this planning that translate to elements of the IEP are "mandated" to occur. We have deliberately designed the planning process to be more than what is required by special education in order to have a coherent and inclusive plan of action to help to prepare youth for adult life. This inclusive planning process does not require that all identified actions will be the responsibility of the school's special education program, but rather that parents, the student, general education services, other agencies, community partners, and special education services should all work together to assist the student in making a smooth transition to adult life.

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massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education

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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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IEP Forms and Notices: English and Translated Versions - Special Education

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The goal of the Massachusetts public K-12 education system is to prepare all students for success after high school. Massachusetts public school students are leading the nation in reading and math and are at the top internationally in reading, science, and math according to the national NAEP and international PISA assessments.

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Advancing ALTELLA - Supporting Multilingual Learners with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

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Alternate Assessment English Learner Assessment

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Skip to main content

Background

The Alternate English Language Learning Assessment (ALTELLA) project aims to apply lessons learned from research on successful instructional practices, accommodations, and assessing English learners (ELs) and students with cognitive disabilities to inform alternate English language proficiency assessments.
Learn more

Research Activities

ALTELLA is divided into six project activities: 1) An Individual Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ); 2) Classroom observations and teacher interviews; 3) Standards prioritization; 4) Innovative item development; and 5) Development of a Request for Proposals (RFP) template to maintain continued collaboration across states; 6) Dissemination of project findings. Learn more

Partners & Staff

This project establishes a collaboration between five states and the University of Wisconsin. Our staff members include experts in the fields of assessment design, psychometrics, alternate assessments, and English language development. Learn more

Resources

ALTELLA staff publish reports on each project activity. These are accessible and available for download. Findings will also be highlighted at national conferences targeted at student assessment, English language development, and students with disabilities. Learn more

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ALTELLA: Alternate English Language Learning Assessment project

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Skip to main content The Alternate English Language Learning Assessment (ALTELLA) project aims to apply lessons learned from research on successful instructional practices, accommodations, and assessing English learners (ELs) and students with cognitive disabilities to inform alternate English language proficiency assessments.

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Digital resources about Asian American Experience

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Digital resources about Asian American Experience

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Using Digital Resources to Integrate Asian Pacific American Experiences in the Classroom

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Use this calendar of observances to increase your awareness and sensitivity about religious holidays, observances as well as ethnic and cultural festivities that may affect students, colleagues and neighbors in your community.

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Journaling and Creative Writing -List of good sites for prompts

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Journaling and Creative Writing -List of good sites for prompts

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"The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible." ~Vladimir Nabakov

Our language learners have powerful stories to share, but they need their teachers to help them get these stories out in English. When our learners can tell their stories in English, they are able to share these experiences with a worldwide audience. Like all storytellers, our learners are strongly motivated to share their stories with an audience who will listen. For this reason, we often see learners sharing personal events of their lives on blogs, Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter. These social networks have millions of users and provide our learners with a global audience of parents, teachers, friends, and learners who will comment on their stories. Through storytelling we motivate our learners to apply, contextualize, visualize, and personalize the language they learn. There are great tools and websites to inspire your learners to think creatively and begin writing their thoughts. I hope the following tips and resources will help you along your journey towards integrating storytelling into your curriculum.

Teach Them Free Writing

Many times our students do not get the chance to write without having to edit themselves and worry about grammar. Being able to recall phrases and think in English without worrying about the structure is also an important part of learning the language. We can motivate our students to write for short time periods about whatever comes to mind. Some of the ideas below will help stimulate their minds.

Get Them Writing Regularly

Every day my students knew the drill. They would enter the class, look at the writing prompt on the board, and have 10 to 15 minutes to write in their journals. Every other Friday I would collect these journals and give them a completion grade. My concern was not over the grammar so much as getting them to apply the language they learned and helping them get into the habit of thinking and writing in English. Starting classes this way helped my learners to get their brains ready to think in English as well as express their thoughts on an interesting or thought-provoking writing prompt. Below, I share many websites where you can find 1000s of writing prompts.

Change the Environment

On sunny days, my students and I would go outside and find a nice place around the school campus to take 10 minutes to write. These writings would be in their daily journals. I have also been part of a group that would go hiking once a month. Mid-hike we would stop and contemplate our natural setting and write any poetry, thoughts, or prose that came to mind.

Stimulate with Music

In these classes I often allowed my students to get out their mp3 players and listen to music. Many of them had English songs they listened to. They would have time to write while listening to the music. In this slide presentation, Eva Buyuksimkesyan has many great ideas for using music to inspire your language learners to write. One of the activities includes playing a piece of music and then asking students to imagine what kind of movie would include this in the soundtrack. The students then write out the movie scene.

Create a Scene

Make a paper cut-out of a body and tape it to the floor (or create the body outline with masking tape). Put the students' desks around this body and have them ask questions about the body, such as " What happened to this person? Is he/she dead or alive?". Then the students write what happened to this individual. They can even do this as a news report. I got this idea from Jamie Keddie's lesson here.

Use Word Clouds

Marisa Constantinides created a great word cloud with images. She asks learners to create a story with the words then share the story on Voicethread. In classes, you can have your students create these stories in groups then listen to each group's stories to see if they are similar. With lower levels, I will ask students to use 5 to 8 words.

Writing Prompts, Story Starters, and Other Great Webtools

These websites have plenty of writing prompts, story starters, and inspirational images to get your students writing.

Slideshow presentation: Ideas for Inspiring Our Learners to Write

Journal Jar- free web and phone app that when shaken comes up with a question to write about.

PicLits- choose an image and your students drag and drop words onto the image to create a story.

Kevin Hodgson's Animation Site- Several incredible storyboarding worksheets to help your students brainstorm.

Scholastic Story Starters- this is an interactive website where students write their names and fill out questions.

Smories- 100s of children read stories they created out loud on video.

Plinky- a question appears and below the question students write their opinion.

StoryIt- print out a picture that has the first paragraph of a story.

Boggles World Creative Writing- several creative writing prompts to print that were especially designed for English language learners.

Moodstream- beautiful images accompanied by great music to help with the brainstorming process. Use this website with teens or adults but always check before you use a website.

Five Card Flickr- 5 random pictures from Flickr are posted and students can write a story in the space provided or view several other pictures.

One Word- This excellent website posts one word and your students have 60 seconds to write on the website whatever comes to mind.

Writing Fix- hundreds of journal writing prompts, writing games, and more.

Lightning Bug- find a story idea or develop one.

100 Word Story- an image is posted and you can submit a story that is only 100 words. This site doesn't filter so you can use your own images and have the students create the stories in class.

Multimedia Uses: Using Interactive Websites by Keith Schoch has various webtools and ideas outlined.

How do you motivate your students to write?
If you want to receive more of Shelly's tips for online resources for teaching English, then subscribe!

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10+ Tips and Resources for Inspiring Learners to Write

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"The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible." ~Vladimir Nabakov Our language learners have powerful stories to share, but they need their teachers to help them get these stories out in English.

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The obligation not to discriminate based on race, color, or national origin requires public schools to take affirmative steps to ensure that limited English proficient (LEP) students, now more commonly known as English Learner (EL) students or English Language Learners (ELLs), can meaningfully participate in educational programs and services, and to communicate information to LEP parents in a language they can understand. The following materials include information for students and parents, OCR guidance and resources for education officials about their obligations to EL students and LEP parents, and added resources with related information. For Students and Parents For Education Officials Self-Evaluation Materials Related Resources
U.S. Department of Education Resources

U.S. Department of Education Funded Resources and Partnerships

LEP.gov (federal interagency website on limited English proficiency)

U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division

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civil rights; racial discrimination; national origin discrimination; limited english proficient; english (second language); language proficiency; title vi; english learner (el) students; limited english proficient (lep) students; english language learners (ells)

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Schools' Civil Rights Obligations to English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents

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OCR resources about civil rights issues regarding English Language Learning and Limited English Proficient students

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Tools for evaluating effectiveness of EL program

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Tools for evaluating effectiveness of EL program

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Present a 2-hour PD session with no projector? Yep! That's how we roll sometimes at the Abydos Conference. Our founder, Dr. Joyce Carroll ("Dr. Jac" as she likes to be called) encourages us to offer interactive sessions that don't require reading from a powerpoint.

I am honored to be a spotlight speaker at the event and I take that responsibility seriously. Here's the session I'll be giving:

Newcomers Thriving in ELAR Classrooms

We are trained to cite all sources while delivering our sessions. The learning I'm sharing comes from five texts that I will share through this post. The first is Acts of Teaching III by Joyce Armstrong Carroll and Edward E. Wilson. This book is a bible for anyone teaching writing. I am confident that my pre-literate students can participate in the writing process because of what I have learned from this book and the Abydos Institute. Teachers trained with this text understand that writing is a process and we will spend just a few minutes reflecting on this.

Objectives

To set up this activity, I will have several of the key vocabulary words written in a different color. I will:

1. Ask students (participants) to choose a word they feel they can define or explain to someone else.

2. Write that word on an index card or post-it note

3. Pair up with another person and explain their word

4. Trade words and find a partner again and explain their new word.

5. Trade again and so on.

When the group is back together, I will ask for volunteers to explain the vocabulary. When we do this with students, we can get a formative assessment of what words the students already know and also an assessment from what words were not picked by anyone. We can explain those word meanings now and clear up misconceptions.

Participants will have a chance to reflect on why this activity is good for all students.

More Work on Objectives

Dr. Escalante has a section in her book about annotating your objectives, we will do that if I have the time or I may just use the QSSSA questioning strategy ( Seidlitz 7 Steps) to ask students to think about the meaning of the content objective. I'll ask for a signal when they think they can rephrase the content goal to a shoulder partner. This is when you see participants squinting and really thinking. Afterward, I will ask them to reflect on that simple tweak to how we review objectives. Did they have to think and analyze when I asked then to rephrase something? YES! Rephrasing is different from just receiving information. Reading is thinking. We need kids to have more opportunities to process what they are reading.

Another reflection: Would the Newcomer or SLIFE student be able to participate in the activities so far? They can! And we need to remember that a language learner understands more English every day.

Your language learners will make more and more attempts at speaking when they have low-stress opportunities to do so. What would the classroom environment look like for your ELs to feel comfortable?

Setting Up Classroom Routines

This is a great opportunity to discuss some of the ways we work to empower all students and to make them feel safe in our classrooms.

One of my top tips for that is banishing "I Don't Know" by offering students alternatives to IDK. ( Seidlitz 7 Steps) I'll have a poster in the room but you might also like to have this printable version of pocket-sized IDK poster (created by Emily Peters of Spring Branch ISD) These can get taped to desks or into an agenda. I'll invite participants to use the poster whenever I call on them if they are not ready with an answer.

Reading with Newcomers in the ELAR

I have to start with a quick Language Experience Approach so I can model how we can use shared writing effectively in upper grades with grade level content. I will use the topic of this morning at the conference as that is a shared experience. I'm going to use QSSSA & Language Experience Approach just as I do in this post & video.

I want to be sure we all make the connection to Balanced Literacy and the I Do, We Do, You Do approach to reading and writing. Once we all see that, it will make more sense when I model other ways to co-create text later in this session. I will also explain some of what I do to help students understand how quickly they can gain sight words. We need to counsel newcomers on how a person gains literacy. We want them to attend to print with us and realize that they are gaining sight words every time we read together. They get some phonetics this way as well.

TALK READ TALK WRITE by Nancy Motley

I'll then launch into a TRTW.

TALK #1: Consider this statement: The city was devastated during Hurricane Harvey. But during these dark hours, the people of Houston realized what they were made of. What does that make you think of? I'll do this with a QSSSA. "This makes me think..."

READ We will read this excerpt from Boosting Achievement on Grit using the Highlight Plus technique Motely offers in her book. That technique involves asking the reader to look for something and highlight one or two sentences, annotate and be ready to share why they chose that sentence. I'm going to ask them to find a sentence that resonates with them.

TALK #2: We will share with the frame: This sentence was meaningful to me because...

WRITE: 1 minute quick write on how this applies to our students who have lived through difficult experiences.

We will then reflect on why this strategy (TRTW) and the Highlight Plus strategy makes comprehension easier for students. (Difficult text can be more comprehensible when you are looking for something. Also, our SLIFE and newcomers can find a sentence that is easier for them or I can support them to find a sentence while everyone is reading.)

To learn more about the Talk, Read, Talk, Write approach, you can watch this video by Nancy Motely. It is a great overview.

PREWRITING

Prewriting for Opinion/Persuasive Writing

I am going to do this one because it is so important for the ELAR teacher to have practical things to prepare students for writing that will set them up for Argument, Opinion and Persuasive writing,

We will start to expose students to this type of writing with T-Chart, Pair, Defend ( Seidlitz 7 Steps)

If you tuned in to last week's podcast, you saw a lot of this already. In Episode 51 of the Boosting Achievement ESL podcast, I spent an hour talking about why and how to include emergent writers in this type of writing. I have lots of downloads in the show notes at that link.

In this activity, I will offer the class a statement and ask that they take a side. They should move to the side of the room they agree with. I'm going to go with something abstract because that is how our students are tested. But I usually begin the year with topics that are more concrete and then work up to this.

Once they have taken a side, I will create the T-chart on the board.

It should have sentence frames that we will practice together orally.

Then in pairs, they will come up with their best argument from their opinion. Those pairs will then gather into groups of four and then six. I want them to decide on the best arguments. They are playing "lawyer" and I'm the judge.

We will then get arguments from both sides and I will scribe these in a T-Chart similar to this.

Pair & Defend

Now we are on to the last part of T-Chart/Pair/Defend. They pair up to debate with a partner using complete sentences. Up to this point, I have been allowing native language so that all students can participate in using whatever language they have to consider the argument. But now I want to be sure to meet my language objective, so I'm asking all students to use complete sentences and use respectful language such as the sentence stems and frames I have included on the board.

If we have time, we will end with a shared writing where I will model how to use this brainstorm to pick one side and write a rough draft of a persuasive essay. I will share with participants that with my students, I would use the graphic organizers and planning pages from Episode 51.

I hope to come full circle and show them that we can do the writing as a shared writing and we are still hitting the standards with my newcomers and SLIFE. Of course, if your students can do this independently, they could do the writing on their own. Some students may do shared writing with a buddy. And some of your higher need students may write a rough draft with you scribing for them or using technology to help them get their ideas down.

Then they are in the writing process!

I'd love to end the session reflecting like this if there is time:

1. Pretend there are NO English learners in the room. Was this lesson supportive to the native speakers? How?

2. Consider the students who don't write in English but they can write in their native language. Could they participate?

3. Could the student who is SLIFE participate? What was supportive for this child to participate while they gain literacy?

Use language like:
This technique would benefit ___________ because ______________.
Hope this is stuff you can use!

Reach out - I'd love to hear from you.

Carol

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Present a 2-hour PD session with no projector? Yep! That's how we roll sometimes at the Abydos Conference. Our founder, Dr. Joyce Carroll ("Dr. Jac" as she likes to be called) encourages us to offer interactive sessions that don't require reading from a powerpoint.

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How to use platforms for communications/Switchboard

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How to use platforms for communications/Switchboard

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Resource Round-up: Multilingual Tutorials on Zoom and Other Online Platforms | Switchboard

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In the shift to virtual services, including home-based learning, many clients are learning how to use videoconferencing platforms like Zoom for the first time. School districts are using a wide range of these programs to communicate with students and families, while refugee service providers are leveraging them in the course of virtual case management, English language classes, job readiness training, etc.

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ASCD Webbies: Boosting Student Interaction and Collaboration When Teaching Remotely

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They Say / I Say audiobook by Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein

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https://ell.brainpop.com/

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Professional Development Office BUSD Grade Level Academic Vocabulary BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT . Grade Level Academic Vocabulary ...
pdf4pro.com

Jun 15, 2020 ... Berkeley Unified School District, Office of Professional Development. (2013, May) BUSD grade level academic vocabulary. [PDF document].
knilt.arcc.albany.edu

Jun 15, 2020 ... The BUSD Grade Level Academic Vocabulary List is designed to help Berkeley. Unified ... CCSS references three tiers of words that are vital to ...
reading-sage.blogspot.com

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Professional Development Office BUSD Grade Level Academic Vocabulary BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT . Grade Level Academic Vocabulary ... pdf4pro.com Jun 15, 2020 ... Berkeley Unified School District, Office of Professional Development. (2013, May) BUSD grade level academic vocabulary. [PDF document]. knilt.arcc.albany.edu Jun 15, 2020 ...