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In ELA, we are working with some difficult texts. I love the idea of making the vocabulary attached to photos and to teach that before we begin reading/teaching. I also think that the "think alouds" as we read are helpful to not only ELLs, but to our on and lower level students as well to see what good readers do when reading. I would like to tie more annotating to my teaching and I need to find a good way to annotate as we read.

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I think we spend a lot of time planning and preparing for the before reading and after reading activities, but planning and implementing during reading activities are just as important. Chunking the text, slowing reading rate, highlighting key words, and creating checkpoints where they check their comprehension have helped my ELs. It has given them time to process the information as well as an opportunity to react or question what the text is saying. Students are going to acquire the new language and new information by using it - reading, speaking about, listening, and writing about it.

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In science and math concepts that are applicable, previewing the vocabulary ahead of time in smalls groups the day before definitely has a positive impact on student engagement and confidence. I’ve also found success on creating visual vocabulary journals that utilize images to help make meaning of those vocabulary words before the main lesson which again helps build confidence in those students who would otherwise not find the connections or feel comfortable participating in the whole class discussion.

Kyle

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Good instructional practices are still effective when building proficient readers- interactive read alouds, modeling, think alouds, close reading.

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One part that stuck out to me was After Reading: Summarizing the text. Separating the text into different sections and then doing the same with boxes on a graphic organizer is a great idea. This helps to break down more complex texts and allows the student to work and focus on just one section at a time. Having matching boxes is also a great strategy as it creates that extra visual representation to help match up information within the text. I can see how you could eventually build this up to help summarize important information in chapters while reading chapter books in the classroom. This strategy is great for ELLS and other students who need text broken down.

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Activating and building background knowledge is very important for all students but especially ELs. Giving students time to share what they already know about a topic or watching a short video on the reading topic will ensure student engagement. This has been helpful with Wit and Wisdom this year. Having pictures on the vocabulary wall can help spark student knowledge.

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In kindergarten, visual aids are very important, especially those that include images. These graphic organizers are helpful for all learners, but essential for ELL's in order to support comprehension and allow them to engage in the reading process.

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Close reading has value for all our students, but especially for ELL students. Students can read more complex texts as we practice reading for different purposes each time. Building background knowledge to fully understand what is being read can be one focus. We can focus on comprehension strategies, fluency or language-learning goals, just to name a few. Reading the steps reminded me that sometimes we do need to use repetition in reading a short text to teach the skills that will benefit the ELL (and gen ed) students as they are required to read more complex texts.

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With Wit and Wisdom I have been highlighting and color coding writing to help students write topic sentences and evidence. This not only helps my ELLs but my lower students. We also highlight topic specific words in our responses to see if we are using them. This seems to help students transfer learning more easily to their writing.

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When completing whole-class readings, especially with ELs, it is important to take the time to use before-reading strategies. Previewing vocabulary, activating/building background knowledge, previewing text structure (looking for headings, quotation marks, etc.), and setting a purpose (having a "why" for reading) are all important steps for ELs in order to help them understand a new text.

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I really like to use annotating the text with some highlighting when teaching social studies concepts. The new concepts are difficult for may ELs to understand. I find it helpful when the new information is applied to creative projects or writings. These projects are engaging and students tend to put quality effort into them. Using sentence starters is very helpful when asking these students to share their thinking. Getting them on-track and confident goes a long way in getting ELs to share their thinking or knowledge.

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Read alouds/ think alouds are an important strategy to use with ELs to improve reading comprehension, vocabulary, and listening. This strategy can also sparks interests in reading, improve fluency, and build prosody. I think this is a great strategy to use with my ELs