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Language Arts

This planning checklist for a choral reading lesson uses the poem "One Sister for Sale" by Shel Silverstein. See example ›

This PDF includes dozens of poems for shared, choral, paired, and echo reading. See example ›

The website below offers teachers several poetry options conducive to the Choral Reading strategy along with some interesting tips on reading and language development. See example ›

The example of choral reading found on this site uses the children's book James and the Giant Peach. See example ›

Science

This lesson plan includes examples of choral reading activities that correspond to introductory science concepts. See example ›

Social Studies

This website includes a script for the choral reading of the children's book Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain. See example ›

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Choral reading is reading aloud in unison with a whole class or group of students. Choral reading helps build students' fluency, self-confidence, and motivation. Because students are reading aloud together, students who may ordinarily feel self-conscious or nervous about reading aloud have built-in support.

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Teachers and students write to each other in journals on a regular basis, helping to build positive teacher-student relationships and to grow students' self-awareness and social awareness.

Planning For It How To Do It The Research Behind It

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Dialogue Journals for Elementary Students | Greater Good In Education

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Teachers and students write to each other in journals on a regular basis, helping to build positive teacher-student relationships and to grow students' self-awareness and social awareness. Planning For It How To Do It The Research Behind It

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by Chris Speck 63,785 views

Dictation might feel a bit old-fashioned but it's a great, interactive way to get students writing and talking. It doesn't take a lot of preparation time or complex feedback and it can also serve as a springboard to other activities. Consider these ways to incorporate dictation in your ESL classroom.

1. Dictate a Story

There are lots of great, short stories you can dictate all over the internet. For example, the British Council has hundreds of short stories and videos for children and for adults. You can use different variations while dictating the stories. For example, you could jumble the stor and have students rearrange it after they have completed the dictation. You could also have students try to guess the last line of the story or leave out some words for students to fill in later.

2. Dictate Questions

If you have a comprehension activity with a set of questions, perhaps in a course book or worksheet, why not turn the questions into a dictation activity? This way, you can pre-teach the vocab and meaning before students read the text to find out the answers.

3. Dictate Discussion Sentences

Dictating discussion questions at the start of a class is a great way to get students talking, introduce the theme of your class, and get in a bit of writing practise too. For example, if you were beginning a session on travel and tourism, you could dictate the following questions and then get students to discuss them.

'Where did you last go on holiday?'

'Where would you most like to visit in the world?'

'Is there anywhere you wouldn't like to visit?'

By keeping the dictation short and sweet, you'll get students used to the activity and will be able to try longer dictation activities in the future.

4. YouTube Speeches or Songs

Find a good speech, song, or poem from the internet and dictate it to students. You could either play the video and then do the dictation or the other way around. Have students try reading and practicing the speech when they have finished writing and listening to it.

5. Rip and Run

This is a great activity for younger learners. Print off target short texts or sentences and stick them on the wall. Put students into groups and have them 'walk' or 'run' to the texts. Students have to try to remember chunks of the dictation and then run back to their group where they tell the sentence to a partner who writes it down. Then they swap roles. The winning group is the one that finishes first. This can create a rowdy situation, so choose texts that aren't too long.

6. Students Read the Dictation

Cut up the text and give out sentences for some of your students to dictate to the rest of the class. Encourage students to read slowly and clearly so the others can hear. This gets students to appreciate how important pronunciation is and understand that giving a dictation isn't as simple as they might think.

7. Finish the Sentence

Dictate sentences that students can finish with their own ideas. This is great for practicing a grammar structure that you have just taught. For example, if you are studying the present perfect you could dictate:

'I've never been impressed by...'

'Nobody in my family has ever...'

8. Fill in the Gap

Explain to students that as you dictate you are going to replace a word with the sound 'beep'. Students must complete the dictation as normal but choose the word that fits in the gap. Here are some example sentences to practice past simple irregulars:

'Yesterday I [beep] a wallet in the street' [found / lost/ saw]

'It was my birthday yesterday and my mum [beep] me a new guitar' [bought / gave]

If you plan to use dictation in your classroom, you should keep the following tips in mind.

Explain the idea that as you speak, students write the words down.

Don't speak too quickly if you have low level learners.

Don't speak too simply if you have higher level students.

As you read, put the sentences into manageable chunks of language.

Pause and be prepared to wait or repeat what you said.

Be patient.

Additionally, with each dictation activity, encourage students take charge of making their own corrections. Often this is much more valuable than having you do it for them. There are a number of ways you can provide feedback the corrections. You could simply write the answers on the board or get students to get up and write the answers themselves. Using PowerPoint to display the corrections also works well. You can animate the text so that elements of it 'fly in' one by one as you elicit the answers from the students. Another way of adding fun to checking work is to ask students to check their classmate's writing. They can award one point for every mistake they find and the learner with the lowest score is the winner.

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8 Great Ways to Use Dictation with ESL Students

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by Chris Speck 63,785 views Dictation might feel a bit old-fashioned but it's a great, interactive way to get students writing and talking. It doesn't take a lot of preparation time or complex feedback and it can also serve as a springboard to other activities. Consider these ways to incorporate dictation in your ESL classroom.

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Explore our collection of cross-curricular graphic organizers for English Language Learners! Browse through grammar graphic organizers, academic content graphic organizers, reading and writing graphic organizers, and vocabulary graphic organizers.

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BrainPOP ELL Graphic Organizers | BrainPOP Educators

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Explore our collection of cross-curricular graphic organizers for English Language Learners! Browse through grammar graphic organizers, academic content graphic organizers, reading and writing graphic organizers, and vocabulary graphic organizers.

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In guided reading, teachers work with a small group of students (three to six) who read at about the same level. During a guided reading lesson, teachers hand out individual copies of the text to all members of the group and begin the lesson by introducing the book and setting the purpose for the lesson. For early and emergent readers, the book introduction is often a picture walk, a way to activate background knowledge and clarify challenging vocabulary. Teachers will also observe, coach, and evaluate students reading development. Students are given texts based on their instructional reading level in order to match their reading ability. Teachers should select books that students can read with 90% accuracy. This allows students to focus on meaning but also use problem-solving strategies to figure out works they do not know, deal with difficult sentence structure, and understand concepts they have not encountered in print.

​"The purpose of guided reading is for students to practice reading and using the skills and strategies that they have learned through read-alouds and shared readings. The teacher does not read the book to or with the students but instead prepares them to read it on their own. As previously mentioned, the teacher serves as a coach, providing scaffolding as needed to help students apply their skills to read and make sense of the text. The goal of guided reading is to help students move up to higher reading levels and become independent readers of increasingly difficult texts" (Wright, 2010, page 202).

Student needs will vary in the classroom. Therefore, teachers provide flexible small groups to accommodate to each child's reading ability. There are various ways to determine a child's ability level, such as running records and teacher observations. "Since students' progress at different rates, the teacher will need to have a plan for ongoing observation and assessment to track student growth, select appropriate texts, and to regroup students as their needs change" (Kreul, n.d. paragraph 5).

Benefits for English language learners:

Guided reading helps students receive more individualized and personalized instruction to help them progress with their reading development and comprehension.

Students develop as individual readers while teachers are available for support and scaffolding.

Students learn skills and strategies that will allow them to read difficult texts independently.

Ell students can focus on decoding, pronunciation, fluency and understanding the content (vocabulary) as they focus on becoming proficient readers

The steps for a guided reading lesson:
Before lesson: Complete a picture walk, set the purpose for reading, introduce vocabulary, make predictions, and practice or extend on reading strategies taught in previous lessons.
During reading: Guide students as they read, provide wait time, give prompts or clues as needed by individual students
After reading: Strengthen comprehension skills and provide feedback

Fountas and Pinnell offer the following suggestions for guided reading with ELLs (Wright, 2010, page 204):

Select texts that have language structures, concepts, or vocabulary that will be within the readers' control with your support. Try not to include too many new things to learn in any one text.

In the introduction, include as much practice as needed to help students become familiar with the new language structures. Identify language structures that will be challenging and repeat them yourself in conversations, but also have students relate them several times and talk about their meaning.

During the introduction, use pictures, concrete objects, or demonstrations that will help students understand the concepts and ideas in the text. Don't ask students to read any text they will not understand.

As a regular routine, ask students to identify any words or phrases in the text that they cannot understand. This will help students learn to monitor their own understanding, provide feedback to you on the appropriateness of the text, and give you an opportunity to clarify concepts.

Include word work. One or two minutes of preplanned emphasis on particular words will help students become familiar with how English works, learn many new high-frequency words, and make connections among other words.

In these two examples, you will see a classroom teacher working with 3-4 students during a guided reading lesson. Both of these video clips describe what to do before, during and after reading. You will notice that both teachers introduce the stories and assist the student's reading in a way that will help each child develop independent reading strategies. Most students cannot expand their reading abilities on their own, even if they are given time to read. However, with guided reading, students can expand on a reading comprehension strategy in order to show complete understanding of a text.

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In guided reading, teachers work with a small group of students (three to six) who read at about the same level. During a guided reading lesson, teachers hand out individual copies of the text to all...

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What are information gap activities?

Information gap (also known as information exchange) activities are communicative activities for two or more learners. They involve learners having different bits of information, that they have to convey orally to each other. These types of activities necessitate accurate use of language by the giver of the information, and careful listening by the recipient. They also give an opportunity for the development of effective questioning, answering, and note-taking. There are various different types of information gap activity, including barrier games and jigsaw activities.

Examples of activities

Information exchange activities work well in a mainstream class when everyone takes part. They can be useful at any age and for learners at any stage of English language proficiency, from New to English to Fluent.

1. Barrier games:

In barrier games, a barrier is placed between two learners so they are looking at different texts, images or objects. An example is The Black Death in Europe, where two learners are given maps of Europe annotated with different information and have to ask each other questions to enable them to fill in the details that are missing on their map.

2. Jigsaw activities:

Jigsaw activities are where learners are given information or carry out a task in one group, then the groups are mixed up to form new groups where the learners pool their knowledge to complete a further task. An example of this is Victorian Child Labour, where learners are asked to listen for specific information while watching a video, and then pool their information in a group of three who were focusing on different aspects from each other.

3. Split texts:

Split a text into, for example, six sections, then put the class into groups of six. Give each member of the group a part of the text to read. Without looking at each other's cards the members of the group tell each other about what is on their card. The group then reconstruct the text, sequence or rank the sections of text.

4. Introducing characters:

One way of introducing a set text or class reader is to do a character information exchange activity. This is when each learner is given a card to read with basic information about a particular character. They then put the card away and go and introduce themselves to someone else as that character. Examples on this website include Romeo and Juliet character activity, Macbeth character activity and A Christmas Carol character activity.

How information gap activities work

Information gap activities take a bit of organising but can be a great motivator for learners. It is recommended to:

Pair EAL learners, particularly those who are New to English, with peers who can provide good English language models

Ensure that the instructions for the activity are really clear so everyone knows exactly what they are expected to do

Differentiate the activity by providing EAL learners who are at New to English or Early Acquisition stages with additional scaffolding to help them to ask appropriate questions. E.g. When did the Black Death come to _______ ?

Top tip: Information exchange activities work really well as a way of giving biographical information about historical individuals (e.g. Martin Luther King), groups of people in history (e.g. peasants in the Middle Ages) or fictional characters (e.g. Oliver Twist).

Why are information gap activities a Great Idea for EAL learners?

Information gap activities are an excellent way of combining content and language teaching effectively and providing an opportunity for purposeful communication, as recommended by Merrill Swain. They support the development of strategies for communication: rewording, requesting clarification, questioning, giving and following simple clear instructions (explaining), clarifying and describing.

The underlying theory of information exchange activities is based on the work socio-cultural linguists such as Robin Alexander, Neil Mercer and Gordon Wells, who stress the importance of interaction between learners in promoting language development. There is also research into the benefits of group work to learning more generally (Cordon 2000), and Gardner (2012) argues that collaborative learning is a key feature of inclusive classrooms. Kotler et al (2001) and Wong Fillmore and Snow (2005) also stress the importance of active participation and social interaction to language development.

References

Cordon, R., 2000, Literacy and learning through talk: strategies for the primary classroom, Buckingham: Open University Press.

Gardner, P., 2012, Strategies for Teaching and Learning in Inclusive Classrooms (2nd edition), Oxford: Routledge.

Kotler, A., Wegerif, R. and Le Voi, M. 2001, Oracy and the educational achievement of pupils with English as an additional language: the impact of bringing 'Talking Partners' into Bradford schools, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 4 (6), 403-419.

Wong Fillmore, L. and Snow, C., 2005, What teachers need to know about language, Washington DC: Centre for Applied Linguistics.

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Information Exchange - The Bell Foundation

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Great Idea: Information Gap Activities Play What are information gap activities? Information gap (also known as information exchange) activities are communicative activities for two or more learners. They involve learners having different bits of information, that they have to convey orally to each other. These types of activities necessitate accurate use of language by the ...

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This strategy gives students the opportunity to work with vocabulary, terms, and concepts. Students sort cards with the terms and concepts into categories based on meaning. Sorting the cards gives students a structure to talk meaningfully with one another about content and helps teachers check for understanding.

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Fordham, N. W. (2006). Crafting questions that address comprehension strategies in content reading. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49, 390-396.

Liang, L. A., Watkins, N. M., Graves, M. F., & Hosp, J. (2010). Postreading questioning and middle school students' understanding of literature. Reading Psychology, 31, 347-364.

Raphael, T.E., & Au, K.H. (2005). QAR: Enhancing comprehension and test taking across grades and content areas. The Reading Teacher, 59, 206-221.

Wilson, N. S., & Smetana, L. (2011). Questioning as thinking: A metacognitive framework to improve comprehension of expository text. Literacy, 45, 84-90.

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The question-answer relationship (QAR) comprehension strategy teaches students how to ask key questions about their reading, and then how to find the answers to their questions - whether it means locating a specific fact, drawing an inference, or connecting the reading to their own experience.

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It provides a framework for writing strong paragraphs

The frame guides students by providing the transitional phrases for sentences

It can incorporate various sentence types: long and short, simple and complex.

How to use framed paragraphs

1. Discuss how to write a framed paragraph by using:

A topic sentence - a general statement or opinion

Three to five examples that develop the topic or opinion

Transitions when needed

A summary sentence at the end

2. Provide students with a blank frame.

3. Ask students fill in the missing portions of the frame to write a complete paragraph.

4. Encourage students to incorporate a variety of sentences: long and short, simple and complex.

Download blank template

There are many ways to create a frame for a paragraph. This simple template helps children summarize what they learned from their reading.

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Framed Paragraphs | Classroom Strategy | Reading Rockets

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Framed paragraphs are pre-writing tools that help students write well-developed paragraphs. They are skeleton formats containing information about the main ideas and transition words that guide the organization and the development of supportive details. Framed paragraphs offer a structure for students to use as they begin to write paragraphs and essays.

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Adler, C. (2004). Seven Strategies to Teach Students Text Comprehension.

Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2001) Put reading first: The research building blocks for teaching children to read kindergarten through grade three. Washington, DC: The U.S. Department of Education.

Boulineau, T., Fore, C, Hagan-Burke, S. and Burke, M. (2004). Use of Story-Mapping to Increase the Story-Grammar Text Comprehension of Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Spring, 2004), pp. 105-121

Nell K. Duke, P. David Pearson, Stephanie L. Strachan, and Alison K. Billman (2011) Essential Elements of Fostering and Teaching Reading Comprehension . From What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction (4th ed.), International Reading Association.

Nell K. Duke, Alessandra E. Ward, and P. David Pearson (2021). The Science of Reading Comprehension Instruction , The Reading Teacher, Vol 74, No. 6 (May-June 2021).

Dunst, C, Simkus, A, Hamby, D. (2012). Children's Story Retelling as a Literacy and Language Enhancement Strategy. CELLreviews 5(4). Asheville, NC: Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute, Center for Early Literacy Learning.

Santa, C., Havens, L., & Valdes, B. (2004). Project CRISS: Creating independence through student owned strategies 3rd Edition. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.

Timothy Shanahan et al., Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (2010). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences.

Trabasso, T., & Bouchard, E. (2002) Teaching readers how to comprehend text strategically. In C. Block and M. Pressley, (Eds.) Comprehension instruction: Research-based practices (pp. 176-200). NY: Guilford Press.

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Story maps use graphic organizers to help students learn the elements of a book or story. The most basic story maps focus on the beginning, middle, and end of the story. More advanced organizers focus more on plot or character traits.

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In this blog post written for Colorín Colorado, Rhode Island administrator and WIDA trainer Julie Motta walks through a read-aloud activity for first grade and highlights how she engaged the students with the story, brought in content-area connections, and included informal assessment to check comprehension. She also outlines the standards related to the activity. To see more from Julie, take a look at her previous blog post focused on making curriculum units aligned to the Common Core accessible for ELLs!

Getting Back to the Classroom

Although I have been out of the classroom for a while as I have taken on more responsibilities as a central office administrator in Rhode Island, the best parts of my job remain spending time with students inside their busy classrooms and working with their teachers to continually advance their craft, especially in the multifaceted task of implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) with ELLs.

This past spring, I was in a classroom reading to eager first graders sitting attentively on their alphabet rug during Reading Week. The theme of the week was "Read around the World." The class had been hearing stories based on different cultures, so to go along with the theme, I chose a multicultural story entitled Let's Eat by Ana Zamarano. With just this simple read aloud, I was able to work on the WIDA English Language Development ELA, Math, and Science Standards while I addressed the CCSS in Reading, Speaking & Listening, and Math. The activity reminded me that many of the things that I do naturally as an ESL teacher are effective for all students, and that they also are great strategies to use in implementation of the Common Core. A table of the standards I worked with is listed below.

Reading the Story Together

Before Reading

Before I read the story, I built background with students by asking them about the make-up of their families and the ways they gathered for meals. This got them interested in the family whom we would read about. I charged them with making comparisons and contradictions to their own family practices as their purpose of listening intently.

During Reading

As I read the story, the children listened carefully. They made predictions and answered my questions. Some questions that I asked were:

Can you tell me why you think the mom was happy when everyone was at the dinner table?

What information from the story makes you say that?

Who might be missing from the dinner table on Tuesday?

Why do you think it will be that family member?

Was there a clue in the story that helped you to make that prediction?

After Reading

Once we finished the story, I used prompts for student discussion, such as:
Turn and talk to you elbow partner about why you think having dinner together is so important in this family. Be sure to use some words from the story to prove your idea is a good one.
I probed them using phrases like:

Tell me more about that.

What makes you say that?

Is there a picture in the story that is making you think that way?

I required them to provide me with evidence from the story to back up their thinking. I insisted that they give responses in complete sentences, using sentence frames with those who needed a bit of scaffolding.

Content Connections

Math

In addition to our discussion of the text, the children studied the watercolor illustrations, and we used these illustrations to do some grade level math, adding and subtracting members of the family who disappeared and then reappeared on each page of the story. Later they would write number stories using the characters names during their math instructional block.

Art

One student also explained how the class had been given a chance to use watercolor paints in art class. If I had been in the school for a longer period of time, I would have followed up with the art teacher to ask her to use the book to discuss the illustrator's purpose for using watercolors so that the children could do some deeper analysis, thus promoting shared responsibility for assisting students with meeting rigorous content standards. Additionally, if I'd had the chance, I also would have picked some additional books about families and had the children study the illustrations to compare their artistic components in exhibiting families.

Health

As each food that was mentioned in the story was described, I used Google images of the actual foods to match the descriptions. This led us to an in-depth discussion of healthy foods, and the students were able to make connections to what they had been learning about in health class where they had been listening to informational texts around healthy foods, another chance to promote the shared responsibility mentioned above. This was another opportunity for comparing the foods in the story to those that the children ate with their families on a regular basis and to analyze how healthy they were in comparison to the foods in the story.

The children actively participated as the story continued, repeating a phrase from the book that was stated in both English (What a pity!) and Spanish ( ¡Ay qué pena!), expressions that Mamá used when a family member was not at the dinner table. We talked about why the author would have chosen to use these phrases repeatedly throughout the text.

Informal Assessment

I had students self-assess using a listening and speaking rubric based on the WIDA performance definitions. They rated themselves on a scale of 1-5 using the sentences here to assess their own listening:

1. I can understand the words in the story.

2. I can understand the short sentences in the story.

3. I can understand the long sentences in the story.

4. I can understand people's ideas in the story.

5. I can understand the whole story that I listened to.

For speaking, they used these sentences:

1. I can talk using a few words about the story.

2. I can use short sentences to talk about the story.

3. I can use long sentences to talk about the story.

4. I can put my ideas together when I talk about the story.

5. I can retell the story to a friend in my own words.

I suggested following up with a writing prompt that the students could find success with. An example I gave as a suggestion was: Write (a specific number of words, phrases or sentences - based on varying proficiency levels of individual students) that explains why dinner time was so important to the mom in this story. Be sure to find (insert a number) reasons in the story that show that your idea is correct. A word bank would be provided with the prompt as well as incomplete sentences with some words missing that students with the least proficiency could fill in.

Collaboration

Finally, I was able to use this opportunity for the benefit of the teacher who had invited me as a guest to her classroom. I worked hard to model by:

asking rigorous, probing questions that required evidence to support answers

allowing for wait time

using rich, academic vocabulary including cognates

encouraging peer discussions with turn and talk

making links to informational texts that would lend themselves to extend the lesson.

The Luckiest Teacher in the World

During this lesson, I realized that implementing the Common Core with ELLs does not have to be as difficult as I had originally thought - and that a lot of what I learned how to do as an ESL teacher supports the Common Core beautifully. At the conclusion of the story, I explained to the students in this classroom that I had taught children who had just moved to the US from all over the world. I told them that I taught those children to speak English, and I named the many countries they had come from. One darling little boy squealed, "Mrs. Motta, you were the luckiest teacher in the world!" And indeed, he was absolutely correct - I was! And whether in my classroom with my ELLs or sitting on this rug in a mainstream grade-one classroom, I was providing my students with rigorous content knowledge as they acquired rich academic vocabulary in the English language. The students may have had differing needs, but the high-quality instruction was the same in both instances.

Standards Used for Read-Aloud

Math 1.0A Operations & Algebraic Thinking- Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction

1.0A Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart and comparing.

RL 1-3 Key Ideas and Details

RL1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

RL1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson

RL1.3 Describe characters, settings and major events in a story; using key details

RL 4 Craft and Structure

RL1.4 Identify words and phrases in stories that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses

RL 7 & 9 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

SL 1-2 Comprehension and Collaboration

SL1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in larger groups

b. Build on others talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges

c. Ask questions to clear up confusion about the topics and texts under discussion

SL1.2 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud

SL 4 & 6 Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

L1 Conventions of Standard English

L 5& 6 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

L.5 With guidance and support from adults, demonstrate an understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

c. Identify real-life connections between words and their use

L.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts

Standard 1 English language learners communicate for Social and Instructional Purposes within the school setting (listening, speaking, reading)

Standard 2 English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in ELA (listening, speaking, reading)

Standard 4 English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in Science (listening, speaking)

Related Resources

To see more great strategies in action, take a look at Colorín Colorado's Common Core classroom videos and lesson plans for first grade featuring teacher Ali Nava in Albuquerque, NM presenting lessons based on the children's book Burro's Tortillas, a southwestern adaptation of "The Little Red Hen." Strategies and activities include:

About the Author

Julie Motta is the Assistant Superintendent of the East Providence School District in Rhode Island. Formerly the ESL Director of Pawtucket Schools, she is also a WIDA trainer and an adjunct college professor at Rhode Island College and Providence College, where she has taught courses in Second Language Acquisition, Curriculum and Methods, Social Issues, and Culturally Responsive Teaching.

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Common Core Ideas: Using Read-Alouds with English Language Learners

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In this blog post written for Colorín Colorado, Rhode Island administrator and WIDA trainer Julie Motta walks through a read-aloud activity for first grade and highlights how she engaged the students with the story, brought in content-area connections, and included informal assessment to check comprehension.

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Strategies to Promote Academic Conversations

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Strategies to Promote Academic Conversations

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ELL2.0 - Strategies to Promote Academic Conversation

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"Give One Get One" and "Chat Stations" are two strategies that promote academic conversations in any classroom. When using these strategies with English Learners, teachers need to consider scaffolds. The next two slides contain examples of possible scaffolds for these strategies.

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Anticipation Guide | Classroom Strategy | Reading Rockets

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An anticipation guide is a comprehension strategy that is used before reading to activate students’ prior knowledge and build curiosity about a new topic. Before reading, students listen to or read several statements about key concepts presented in the text; they’re often structured as a series of s…

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Class group names are great for building a sense of classroom rapport and team bonding. Elementary school classrooms are often structured into table groups where each table needs its on group name. Similarly, whole classes and even whole schools might want to come up with a group name to inspire a sense of belonging.

And with the growth of online learning, virtual group names can also be used to establish group rapport.

Class Group Names

Names for Table Groups

Names for Student Groups

School Group Names

More Names for Study Groups

More Student Group Names

Virtual Classroom Group Names

Group Work at School - Why it's so Important!

Working in groups is central to the development of both cognitive and social skills. When students work with others, they learn to see things from other people's perspectives. This can help them to crack through problems and barriers.

As a teacher, I'll often try endlessly to explain things to my 8 year old students ... then I get one of those students to rephrase what I said once and all of a sudden, the whole group gets it! Sometimes, kids are just better at explaining things to other kids at their own level.

Students also get to practice important vocabulary when working together. Allowing students to talk to one another gives them a chance to not only passively hear language in use, but also actively apply it. This isn't only good for ESL students, but all classrooms.

Another important reason groups are important is social skills. Students need to learn to share resources at the table, and take on roles like leader and learner. When a student helps teach another student at the desk, they're developing skills like patience, effective communication, and belongingness.

By assigning cool group names to your groups of students, you're getting the year off to a good start!

Why Class Names Matter

Coming up with a name for your class is a fun Week 1 activity to break the ice with your students. But a class group name can also create a sense of belonging, community and inclusion among the students.

Across the whole school, assigning team names for school groups creates a sense of positive competition across the school. You could even create whole school team names so the entire school's got a name, or four or five group names for the school like the houses in Harry Potter - 'Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff'.

All these types of school group names can create that sense of inclusion that you're after.

Conclusion

Group names for a class or whole school are fun, allow children to express their creativity, and can foster a sense of belonging for your students. This list of class group names can help inspire your students to come up with a fun name of their own.

Be careful to make sure the team names do not exclude others or create the wrong atmosphere in the classroom or school.

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67+ Creative Group Names for Class (2023) - School Ideas

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Class group names are great for building a sense of classroom rapport and team bonding. Here is a list of 67 names for student groups that can get you thinking.

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Language Arts

This site gives teachers some ideas for using shared reading with younger students and less skilled readers. See example ›

Science

This site offers several examples of how activities related to learning about science topics can be centered around the shared reading strategy. Downloads of several different poems are provided. See example ›

Social Studies

This site provides five examples of shared reading lessons based upon the book Map It! by Elspeth Leacock. See example ›

Shared Reading Booklists

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Shared Reading is an interactive reading experience that occurs when students join in or share the reading of a book or other text while guided and supported by a teacher. The teacher explicitly models the skills of proficient readers, including reading with fluency and expression.

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BridgeUniverse - TEFL Blog, News, Tips & Resources

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Gone are the days when teaching the English language meant giving long grammar lectures or listing vocabulary words all class long. Now, minimizing teacher talking time (TTT) and increasing student talking time (STT) in ESL classes can be a game changer both in the physical classroom and online. Let's answer the question, "What Is TTT when teaching English?" and explore the benefits of reducing TTT, as well as some techniques to get your learners speaking more in class.
If you're new to teaching, you'll want to get initial training and qualification with a TEFL certificate. You can explore our online TEFL courses to get started!
What is TTT?

When it comes to teaching English, creating a student-centered class significantly depends on how much a teacher lets learners participate during a lesson. A key factor to this is being aware of teacher talking time (TTT), which is the amount of time a teacher spends speaking in class, such as when giving instructions or taking part in discussions.

What is STT?

On the flip side, student talking time (STT) refers to the time during a lesson where a learner speaks. This is also when ESL students get to practice the new language and apply what they've learned in class, whether they're reading a text or commenting on a particular topic.
Learn more about TTT vs. STT and other common ESL terms in the 120-Hour TEFL/TESOL Master Certificate course.
What is the appropriate level of student to teacher talk time?

Although teacher talking time is not entirely a negative thing, an English lesson should be focused on allowing students to maximize the time they have to use the language. Teachers, therefore, should try to cut their speaking time as much as they can in class.

There isn't really a standard ratio of teacher talk time vs. student talk time. Nevertheless, the ideal amount of time teachers should speak in class is around 20-30% of the entire class time. This means:

If your class is an hour long, you only speak for 12 to 15 minutes.

You step into a facilitator role most of the time and often let students learn by themselves.

Why is it important to reduce TTT?

Now that you know that there should be more student talking time in your English classes, let's look at the reasons why this is key to the success of your lessons.

By minimizing TTT, you are simultaneously encouraging students to participate in class. As you create a void for them to speak during the lesson, they'll realize that they can talk as much as they want!

Nothing makes a class more boring and monotonous than lengthy lectures or excessive comments from the teacher. To avoid this, you can keep your class dynamic and your learners more involved just by getting them to speak more.

The more you let your students talk in class, the better you get to know them! You won't find out what their favorite dishes are or what their childhood was like unless you let them share these during class time.

You can easily check if students have fully understood and applied what they've learned in class when they speak more. Even if you give a comprehensive description of the present perfect tense, you'll never know if learners have actually grasped it until they start making their own sentences (or telling the class about their experiences!) using that particular grammar concept.

By speaking more, students can recognize and correct their own mistakes by themselves or with the help of their classmates. Fixing their pronunciation, vocabulary, or grammar errors on the spot could make it easier for them to remember rules and improve their speaking skills on their own.

Finally, providing more space for student talking time will result in learners having a sense of fulfillment after each class. A lot of students enjoy having conversations even if they're about trivial topics. And, even if they haven't learned new words in class, they'll still be happy that they've spent a part of their day practicing English!

What are some classroom strategies to manage TTT?

Are you ready to build your English students' speaking skills further? Here are some tips for how to reduce TTT and let students do most of the speaking:

1. Elicit, elicit, elicit

Instead of providing explanations, one of the best tips for reducing TTT is to let your students learn by presenting intelligible examples and guiding questions. For instance, when you teach a grammar concept, you can show sentence examples and ask the class what they notice about verb forms and other details. This way, they can discover the answers on their own and comprehend even the most difficult concepts better.

2. Ask open-ended questions

Encouraging learners to talk more also depends on the kind of questions you use. Asking a student, "Do you like your school?" will not generate as much information as when you ask, "What do you like about your school?" Try to move past questions that only require yes/no or one-word answers, and aim to make queries that demand more information or explanation from your students.
Find out how to use concept checking questions (CCQs) in the ESL classroom.
3. Incorporate more speaking activities

It's not uncommon for English teachers to worry about which activities to add to their lesson plans. If you ever have this dilemma, just remember that anything that gets your students speaking works.

There are a plethora of ESL icebreakers, games, and conversation activities that you can incorporate into your English classes, from guessing games to picture descriptions to debates. You can even add a twist to pronunciation drills by turning them into ESL pronunciation games or making students give mini-speeches in a fun way by adding speaking tasks to classic board games like Snakes and Ladders, for instance!

Aside from these, you can always find an opportunity for students to take over the tasks that you usually do as a teacher. For example, you can have them read the instructions for an activity or let them answer their classmates' questions.
Get your adult learners talking through these speaking activities.
4. Organize pair or group work

If you have classes of two students or more, you can make your lessons more interactive by letting learners practice or do activities with their classmates. You can make them role-play as a pair or group, for instance, or set up interview or presentation activities that they can do with a partner.

5. Replace words with non-verbal cues

When it comes to classroom strategies to reduce TTT, try using as many non-verbal cues as you can.

To help keep yourself from making unnecessary comments or giving long instructions, you can use Total Physical Response (TPR), a technique that makes learners react to a teacher's body language, gestures, and facial expressions.

You can also point to particular words (or underline them in online classes) during a reading activity, for example, which will let a student know that they mispronounced something and that they need to say it again.

You can boost learners' confidence while speaking in class with a simple thumbs-up, or even just a smile to show you're proud of them!

Aside from TPR, here are more ESL teaching methods that you can apply to your classes.
6. Don't be afraid of silence

Silences will be inevitable in English classes, as learners may need time to organize their thoughts, formulate sentences in a different language, or even process what you've just told them. If the class suddenly goes quiet, you don't really need to fill the silence by talking! Just give your students time to think and answer, and only resume speaking if they ask for your help.

7. Ask for feedback

Instead of assessing your own lessons and your students' progress, why not solicit their opinions instead? You can get their thoughts on the activities you assigned or ask them how they feel about their speaking performance at the end of the class. This will similarly increase their talking time and make them practice commenting in English.

When is it okay to use teacher talking time in the ESL classroom?

There are some instances when teacher talking time can be beneficial to an ESL class:

Especially for beginner students, you may have to model pronunciation and vocabulary use, then later make necessary corrections while learners read words out loud.

For activities that involve storytelling, a teacher may have to share his or her own anecdotes or experiences as an example before students tell their own stories.

A teacher may have to provide further explanations to help students comprehend concepts.

In conversations, especially if you're only teaching one student, you may need to react to what a student has said or participate in a discussion.

Reducing teacher talking time is essential not just to enhance English learners' oral skills but to keep them engaged in class. This may be challenging for some, but by applying the techniques above and using TTT only when necessary, you can definitely boost your students' talking time and help them achieve their English-speaking goals sooner than you think.

Want to learn more about reducing teacher talking time and implementing other effective strategies in the ESL classroom? Take the 120-Hour Master Certificate course!

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What is TTT when teaching English, why is it important to reduce it, and how do you encourage your ESL students to speak more in class? Find out the answer to these and other questions!

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Total Physical Response (TPR) is a method of teaching language or vocabulary concepts by using physical movement to react to verbal input. The process mimics the way that infants learn their first language, and it reduces student inhibitions and lowers stress.

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If you do presentation with your language classes, then you'll need to check out some of these presentation project ideas. Get beyond the boring old PowerPoint presentation and use some of these creative ideas to bring a bit of excitement and life back into your classes.

Your students will love it, and it'll also keep things fresh for you if you've seen the same old projects year after year.

Presentation Projects for ESL/EFL Students: Top 8

Over the years teaching in a Korean university, I've had students do plenty of presentation projects, with varying degrees of success. I hope that you can learn from my mistakes and make your ESL speaking classes as awesome as possible.

Presentation projects, if set up well are an excellent way to add a bit of variety to the ESL classroom. After all, students get tired of hearing the teacher talk all the time! And you probably get tired of talking. I know that I always did! Plus, it's fun to hear what students have to say.

Here are my top presentation projects for ESL/EFL students.

Basic speech (not recommended!)

Presentation, then discussion time

Poster presentation

Making a movie

PowerPoint presentation

Impromptu presentation

Teaching the class how to do something

If you teach business English, then the sky is kind of the limit in terms of what topics you choose. You could focus on just about anything that students may expect to present on when they start working in a company.

#1: A Basic Speech

Each student has to choose from a variety of topics such as family, food, dreams or hobby. They have to speak for between 1.5 and 2 minutes. I did this only once, with low-level students and it was ridiculously boring such that I never did it again.

The main problem is all the presentations are basically the same and go a little something like this: "I have a mom. She is 49 years old. She has brown hair and black eyes. I have a dad. He is 57 years old. My dad has brown hair and black eyes. He is short." Word for word, almost the same!

Trust me, they were some of the most tedious and excruciating hours of my entire life. It was from this point on that I vowed to never set up a presentation like this again. I got a lot more creative and made students talk about things that were more varied and interesting.

Of course, the bad results from this experiment were totally my fault. I should have chosen more interesting topics for the students, or given them better guidelines. Seriously, better ESL presentations topics would have made a big difference here and I really have nobody to blame but myself!

Maybe Not Terrible if...

This style of presentation could have been far less bad if I had done a better job setting it up. I should have set the topic to something like, "Current events." That way, students would have been forced to choose something in the news and the presentation topics would have been quite varied.

Or, I could have required some visual aids to make it a bit more interesting for the students.

#2: Presentation, and then Discussion Time

Each group has to give a presentation about a topic of their choosing and think of at least 5 interesting questions/surveys/activities that groups could discuss or do for about 20 minutes after their presentation. This often works best if the presentation is based on 2-3 articles that the students have to send you in advance.

This presentation project ideas had varying results, since some groups chose a topic that led to a lot of "yes/no" answers and discussions that lasted about 5 minutes, at most.

However, this could have been avoided by personally approving the topics in advance and requiring groups to submit their assignment for feedback a week or two before the actual presentation. I blame nobody but myself for the failure on this one!

This ideas for presentation projects isn't a bad one, if you set it up well. It can work well for English majors or advanced level students who want a class filled with conversation and discussion.

#3: Poster Presentation

A poster is one of my favourite presentation projects. Each group has to choose a current controversial issue (like environmental pollution, suicide, North Korea) and make a poster that had English writing and some interesting pictures on it. Set a (low) max number of words or your posters will be terrible and filled with wordy death!

Then, the students have to do a presentation based on the poster where each group member speaks for 1-2 minutes, without a paper.

For this one, it's very important that you require no paper script, or you'll just have students reading off their notes. Also, don't allow students to put too many words on the poster, or you'll have students reading off of this.

If I ever did this again, I would do something where the audience was more involved, such as peer grading. Or, I would require each group watching the presentation to think of at least 1 question to ask and they'd get a point for doing so. Basically, it'd give the rest of the students in the class a reason to listen.

It's potentially an excellent group presentation project!

#4 Presentation Projects: Making a Movie

Another ESL presentation idea is to have students make a movie. It's easier than ever these days because almost everybody has a smartphone, and it's free to upload the video to YouTube. This works particularly well if you teach film, art or fashion students and you'll get some amazing results. It's actually one of my favourite ESL projects these days.

You can have a fun "viewing day" in class and encourage everyone to bring a snack! It's a nice change from the regular old textbook thing.

Here's how I've done movie projects.

I put students into groups of 4-5. One person can "film" the project and then you can have 2-3 actors. Finally, one person might be designated the write the script or edit. However, I leave it up to the group how they want to divide the roles and not everyone has to appear on camera.

I set a minimum and maximum time for the movie (usually 3-5 minutes), as well as a certain number of English sentences that must be spoken during that time. It must be a story of some kind that makes sense.

I'll usually give a topic or theme of some kind, but may leave it open.

I evaluate it based on the following things:

Quality of English

Interesting story

Quality of production (I don't expect a lot, but just basic stuff like making sure it's bright enough, we can hear the people talking, etc.)

The quality of English usually gets around 10 marks, while the other two categories are each worth five.

Love this ESL Speaking Activity? Then Check Out:

#5: PowerPoint Presentation

This has the potential to be very interesting, or PPT death. It all depends on how you set the presentation project up.

If you do go with this method, you should set a maximum number of slides and also a maximum numbers of words per slide (5-10?). Emphasize to students that you want to see pictures, charts, etc. and not a wall of text.

I generally allow each group to have 1 intro and 1 conclusion slide, and then 1 slide per group member. So if there are 6 students in the group, it'll be 8 slides. I usually say that each student has to talk about their slide for 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on the level.

Teach students how to make good PowerPoints and then penalize heavily for not following your recommendations. You should also coach students on how to stand to the side and keep their body pointed towards the audience. Eye contact is key!

This is an excellent idea for presentation projects, if some key expectations are set out in advance. Eye contact/don't look at screen, pictures instead of words on the PowerPoint, etc.

#6: Just a Minute Impromptu Presentation

If you want to give your students some practice with making impromptu, or off the cuff style of speeches, then Just a Minute may be exactly what you need. It's a toastmasters style activity and makes the perfect warm-up activity for intermediate or advanced level students.

You can also turn this into a listening activity, instead of just an ESL presentation by requiring the other students in the group to ask follow-up questions. Try this one with your classes and I think your students will really enjoy the challenge.

Find out more about it here:
Just a Minute ESL Speaking Activity
Impromptu presentation skills are never a bad thing for students (or anyone) to practice!

#7: Teaching Others How to Do Something

One of the best presentation ideas for students is to get them to teach the class how to do something. I've done this a few times now and they are some of my most memorable classes.

The way it works is that students choose something they know how to do well. Students in the past having chosen things like:

How to fry an egg

Heading a soccer ball

Playing the guitar

Getting dates

Making sure their parents give them enough spending money

Eating out cheaply around the university

Getting the best class schedule

Etc.

I allow students to bring in props, material or make a simple powerpoint presentation with pictures (no text) to explain.

#8: What are you Cooking?

If you want to have your students do some fun presentations in a more informal kind of way, then consider trying out "What are you Cooking?" Students have to plan a 3-course meal based on ingredients from their classmates and then make a presentation to the class who votes on the best menu.

Sounds interesting? I think you'll love it so give it a try today. More information here: What are you Cooking?

ESL Presentations FAQs

There are a number of common questions that people have about making presentation in English. Here are the answers to some of the most popular ones.

Why are Presentations Important for Students?

Having students give presentations is important for delivering a positive learning environment. They can also help teach communication skills and assist with students feeling comfortable talking in front of a group of people. Finally, they are an engaging way to share ideas and help students build confidence.

What Makes a Great Presentation?

A great presentation is very memorable. This can be done in various ways, but graphics, images, relevant facts, story telling and humour play an important role. Finally, a memorable presentation motivates the audience to action.

What are the Advantages of a Presentation?

Businesses and people in general use presentations for various reasons. The advantage of them is that they can educate, motivate, and persuade in a more interesting way than the written word alone can.

Should Students Memorize Speeches?

Should you make students memorize their presentation, or not? It's an interesting question and I certainly see points for both sides. However, I generally lead towards the memorization thing because...

It results in presentations that are far more interesting for the audience

I only require 30 seconds-2 minutes of speaking. It's not a big task to memorize this amount

It helps students remember vocabulary and key phrases

That said, I do know that students get nervous and that this can be a big ask. It's for this reason that I tell students to bring their notes up to the front with this, but to leave them in their pocket.

If they have an emergency (forget what to say!), they can take it out and use it. But, only once if they don't want to get a penalty. After that, put it aside and continue on.

I'm usually kind and if a student has to do this twice, I don't mind. My main point is that I don't want students reading exclusively off of a paper.

What are some Things to Consider for Presentations in English?

If you're going to have your students do an ESL presentation, there are a number of factors that you'll want to consider.

How to explain the task in a simple way that students can understand what they need to do. How will you evaluate it?

When will students prepare (outside, or inside of class. A combination of both often works well).

What kind of equipment can students use (Projector, or not).

How students will deliver the presentation. Will you expect things like gestures and eye contact?

What kind of language will the students use? Will you teach them about the introduction (I would like to start by...) and conclusion (In conclusion, you can see that...), as well as transition sentences (Moving on to...). The style of the speech (persuasive, informative, etc.) is important for this.

What will the rest of the class be doing while the presentations are happening? Is there a listening task you can assign to make this activity even more valuable?

The biggest tip I can give you is to be clear about the terms of the assignment. And, also how you will evaluate it. If expectations are clear, results will be far better and your life will be easier as well because you won't have to answer the same questions over and over again.

What are the Top 20 ESL Presentation Topics?

Here are some of the most common topics that you may consider assigning to your students:

Hobbies

Family (can be sensitive for some though)

Current events

If I had a million dollars...

Vacation (past or future dream)

Ideal first date

Food

TV and movies

Favourite book

Time, and how do you spend it

Music

An ideal first date

Jobs and work

Some future goals

A favourite restaurant

Money (saver or spender)

Future plans

Controversial topics

Teaching someone how to do something

If you were the president...

These interesting topics means that you presentation projects will be better than ever! No more boring, okay? Okay.

Do you Like these Ideas for Presentation Projects?

Then you're going to love this book, 101 ESL Activities: For Teenagers and Adults. It's an extremely practical, well-organized teaching guide that will help you plan your lessons in no time. The best part about it is that your students will be having fun, while learning English.

The book is available in both digital and print formats. The (cheaper!) digital one can be read on any device-Kindle, Mac, Pc, Smartphone, or tablet by downloading the free Kindle reading app from Amazon. It's super-easy to have some top-quality ESL activities and games at your fingertips at all times.

Keep a copy on the bookshelf in your office and use it as a handy reference guide. Or, bring a copy with your on your phone or tablet to your favourite coffee shop for lesson planning on the go. It really is that easy to make your English classes even better.

Check out the book on Amazon by clicking the link below:

Tips for Student-Centred Language Teaching

Presentation are the ultimate in student centered English teaching. After all, the students are doing all the hard work, and not you!

Of course, you should give feedback and make the activity meaningful too. But, the goal is to have your students be producing the language, not just being fed it by the teacher.

Another thing you can do is to require some task around listening or vocabulary for students who are not doing the presentation. Perhaps some questions to answer, 5 interesting words that they heard, or a follow-up question to write/ask out loud to the presenter.

You can learn more about this style of teaching in this short video:

Have your Say about ESL Presentation Ideas

What's your top ESL presentation project ideas? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We'd love to hear from you.

Also be sure to give this a share on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. It'll help other teachers, like yourself find this useful teaching resource.

Last update on 2020-04-15 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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Presentation Projects ESL Students | Task Based Language Teaching

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If you do presentation with your language classes , then you'll need to check out some of these presentation project ideas. Get beyond the boring old PowerPoint presentation and use some of these creative ideas to bring a bit of excitement and life back into your classes.

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Loading... - Online Engagement and Teaching Hub

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Online Engagement and Teaching Hub - Western Sydney University

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Get all students involved by asking them to show their stance on a statement through their positioning around the room.

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How to Implement the Give One, Get One Teaching Strategy in Your Classroom

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Spread the loveDescription Utilize this method to stimulate learners' thinking as they investigate an essential question or search for evidence in response to an essay prompt throughout a unit of study. In this method, learners formulate initial positions and arguments in response to a question or prompt and then share them through a structured implementation.

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I Have Who Has quickly become a popular, fun, game for the entire class.

From language arts, such as letters of the alphabet and sight words to math, these sets of cards in the I Have Who Has games are a fun way to incorporate learning games.

Here, you will find simple instructions how to play as a whole class and in small groups. At the end of the post, there is a list of printable cards you can start using today!

How to Play I Have Who Has Set of Cards

To save time prepping, invite a parent volunteer to help out with laminating and cutting. Some parents prefer prepping materials over playing classroom games with the kids.

Playing this call and response game as a whole class is a great way to review skills, build listening, and promote a positive classroom community.

First, your kiddos sit or stand in a circle around the room.

For the game to work correctly, be sure to pass out ALL cards. Depending on class size, some students may have 2 cards. This is a great opportunity to differentiate.

If you know a couple students that need a challenge, give them more than one card. You could also pair them with a kiddo that may need extra support following directions or reading the card.

While calling out the cards, there are several ways you can manage your group of kiddos.

For example, they can sit in a circle, stay seated, and simply read aloud their cards. Or, you can have them sit/stand only when it's their turn.

Whomever has the card that read "I have the first card", will be the first player.

After the kiddo reads aloud the card, the children who has the word called out will read next. (Ex: Student 1 - "I have the first card. Who has" Student 2 - "I have all. Who has are?) The end of the game will occur when a random students read the last card : "I have the end."

Playing I Have Who Has as a Small Group (VIDEO)

Yes, the I Have, Who Has game was created as a game to play with a large group of kids. But this classroom card game, can easily be played with a small group, too.

As a title 1 reading tutor for kindergarten, first, and second graders, I loved playing this game in a small group setting.

You can use the games in an intervention reading group, or leave it at a literacy station to incorporate different games.

Here is a short video demonstrating how I use I Have Who Has game to practice second grade sight words.

Tips for playing with a small group:

* distribute the cards to each player until there are no cards remaining (they will have nearly an equal amount of cards)

* have students lay their cards out flat in front of them to assure they can see all of them

* give them an opportunity to look over all of their words

* ask if they need help reading any of their words before getting started

* the player who has the first card leads the game

* the player when the end card will collect the cards when the game is over

When you're all done, gather the cards, and store them until it's time for another round.

Keep your card games organized in zipper pouches or in these small storage Iris containers. These containers are useful for so many purposes. If you'd ask me, I would say they should be on every list of school supplies. You can usually find them at Michaels Stores or on amazon.

Game Cards for Language Arts

I created the following I Have Who Has sets of cards to practice basic math skills and basic facts for Kindergarten through 2nd grade.

All sets come with a starter card, last card for the final answer, and a game titles card.

Alphabet

Sight Words

Math Game Set of Cards

Before you go, here are a few blog posts you may enjoy:
5 Tips for Starting Centers in Kindergarten 65 Awesome Kindergarten Report Card Comments 15 Awesome Teacher Discounts
I Have Who Has

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How to Play I Have Who Has Game (Resources) - Little Learning Corner

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How to Play I Have Who Has Game (Resources) I Have Who Has quickly become a popular, fun, game for the entire class. From language arts, such as letters of the alphabet and sight words to math,

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This discussion technique gives students the opportunity to respond to questions and/or discuss information with a variety of peers in a structured manner. Students form two concentric circles and exchange information with a partner until the teacher signals the outer circle to move in one direction, giving each student a new peer to talk to.

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The Line Up Game is a really fun ice breaker game which works well in a school or group setting, but also makes a super mixed-age party gathering - perfect for a large family party!
How to play:
Separate everyone into teams. 5 or 6 per team is the ideal number, and if you have mixed ages, mix them up!

One person is the caller. He calls out "Everyone please now line up ..." and fills in the blank with a statement such as the suggestions below. All the players race to find the right order and shout when they are finished.
Ideas:

Everyone please now line up in order of age, oldest at the front, youngest at the back

Everyone please now line up in first name alphabet order

Everyone please now line up by height, shortest first

Everyone please now line up according to your birthdays - first in the year goes first

Everyone please now line up according to who served themselves dinner first

How many cousins have you got? Line up with the least cousins in front

What colour is your top? Line up in alphabetical order with the earliest letter first

Most hair at the back, least hair at the front

etc

Variations:
Make the odd round - or the whole game - a silent one! Players can only communicate with gestures!

Explore Activity Village

This is a lovely game for a group of children or a family gathering. Play it as an ice-breaker, around the dinner table, on car journeys, as an after-tea party game... in fact, play it anywhere!

Best played with a large group of kids but we have had fun playing this at family dinner times, with just four. It works with any age, but is better when the children are young.

This is probably my all-time favourite game, as it can be tailored for all occasions, works with all ages, breaks the ice when people don't know each other, and causes much merriment even when played with the best of friends.

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The Line Up Game is a really fun ice breaker game which works well in a school or group setting, but also makes a super mixed-age party gathering - perfect for a large family party! How to play: Separate everyone into teams. 5 or 6 per team is the ideal number, and if you have mixed ages, mix them up!

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Numbered Heads Together Cooperative Learning Strategy

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Online Engagement and Teaching Hub - Western Sydney University

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The big mingle: 8 activities to pick and mix ‹ EF Teacher Zone

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What’s fun, sometimes goofy, and gets your class chatting quickly? A mingle, of course! Here are eight high-talk mingle activities to pick and mix…

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Oczuks, L. (2003). Reciprocal teaching at work: Strategies for improving reading comprehension. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Palincsar, A. S. & Brown, A. (1984). Reciprocal Teaching of Comprehension-Fostering and Comprehension Monitoring Activities. Cognition and Instruction, 1(2), pp. 117-175.

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Reciprocal teaching refers to an instructional activity in which students become the teacher in small group reading sessions. Teachers model, then help students learn to guide group discussions using four strategies: summarizing, question generating, clarifying, and predicting. Once students have learned the strategies, they take turns assuming the role of teacher in leading a dialogue about what has been read.

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Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) | Classroom Strategy | Reading Rockets

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The Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) is a comprehension strategy that guides students in asking questions about a text, making predictions, and then reading to confirm or refute their predictions. The DRTA process encourages students to be active and thoughtful readers, enhancing their comprehension.

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Create and share assignments aligned to College and Career Readiness standards with LDC CoreTools

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Math Instruction for Multilingual Learners

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Math Instruction for Multilingual Learners

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Mathematics is sometimes regarded as a "universal language," as it is grounded in abstract concepts such as numbers and shapes. And there is some truth to that! After all, two people who speak different languages may still be able to solve the same math problem and get the same solution. However, language is nevertheless essential for teaching math, as mathematics is inextricably linked to the language in which it is taught.

Proficiency in any language relies on two factors: language comprehension and language production. When it comes to teaching math to ELL students, we can look closely across lessons and consider, "What is the language load at this moment? Comprehension or production?" Then we can leverage targeted strategies to promote academic language development while also deepening mathematical understanding.

Students learning English carry a different cognitive load when they are also learning mathematics. What follows are ELL strategies for math that lighten the students' cognitive load so that they can show mathematical understanding while you maintain rigor in the lesson.

A note on language: we employ the common phrase English language learner, along with the acronym ELL, but we also recognize that this is imperfect nomenclature. Students who are learning English do not fit neatly into a single label.

ELL Strategies for Math: Language Comprehension

1: Use Routines That Break Down Word Problems

Word problems present an especially tough problem to students learning English. They're hard enough for students who are further along in their English language development! Word problems demand that the reader parse plenty of non-mathematical vocabulary such as names, objects, jobs, and places.

Mathematics instruction will always include word problems, as that is how to articulate complex mathematical situations. Strategies like Three Reads, Stronger and Clearer Each Time, and Compare and Connect help break down the context of a problem and guide students in focusing on one aspect of the language at a time.

2: Focus on Mathematical Vocabulary

Learning mathematics is so much more than learning mathematical vocabulary. Spend time on the words.

For multilingual learners, vocabulary can sometimes be an entryway into the math. Students may have existing notions about words such as product, times, and one, for example, and by discussing them, you are connecting about ideas on both language and mathematics. Your students will help you learn other languages as you help them learn math, a symbiotic relationship.

Provide vocabulary instruction upfront both for mathematical vocabulary and non-mathematical vocabulary that appears in word problems students will confront in the lesson. Vocabulary instruction involves more than just reviewing definitions. It can include playing vocabulary games, reading math readers, and using tools such as word banks.

What would engage your students, regardless of language? Think about what sports they play, music they listen to, TV shows they watch, food they eat, or holidays they celebrate (to name a few). If you can draw on your students' cultural knowledge, you can open paths to engage them even when language serves as a temporary barrier.

Look for ways to modify contexts of word problems and possible bridges between math that they understand and the content you're trying to teach. Position your students as mathematically competent regardless of how well they can articulate their reasoning in English. If you can, let them make up their own word problems! Then you learn more about what is familiar to them.

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7 Strategies for Teaching Math to Students Who Are Learning English

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These ELL strategies for math instruction will help you with teaching math to English language learners and supporting math learning for multilingual students.

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Copy of Instructional Supports for Multilingual Learners

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12 Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom

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12 Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom

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Listen to this post as a podcast:
A note on terminology: The acronym ESL is used less often now in schools than it used to be, because we recognize that many students who are learning English already speak several other languages, so English would not be a "second" language. I use it several times in the post because schools sometimes refer to the teachers as ESL teachers, and the term is still widely used as a search term for this topic. My intent in using the acronym is to make this post easier to find online.

You have a new student, and he speaks no English. His family has just moved to your town from Japan, and though he receives English as a Second Language (ESL) support, he will also be sitting in your room every day to give him more exposure to his new language. How can you be a good teacher to someone who barely understands you?

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, an average of 9 percent of students in U.S. public schools are English Language Learners (ELLs); that number is closer to 14 percent in cities. Although many of these students start off in high-intensity, whole-day English programs, most are integrated into mainstream classrooms within a year, well before their English language skills would be considered proficient.

How prepared are you to teach these students? If you're like most classroom teachers, you have little to no training in the most effective methods for working with English language learners (Walker, Shafer, & Iiams, 2004). So that means we have a problem here: Lots of ELL kids in regular classrooms, and no teacher training to ensure the success of that placement.

Below, three ESL teachers tell us what they know about the things regular classroom teachers can do to improve instruction for ELL students. These 12 strategies are simple, they are not very time consuming, and best of all, they will help everyone in your class learn better:

1. Make it Visual

"Avoid giving instructions in the air," says Melissa Eddington, an Ohio-based ESL teacher. "ELL kids have a harder time processing spoken language." So instructions - even basic directions for classroom procedures - should be written on the board whenever possible. Challenging concepts should be diagrammed or supported with pictures. And modeling the steps of a process or showing students what a finished product should look like can go a long way toward helping students understand. "Sometimes showing our students what to do is all they need in order to do it," Eddington says. Not only will this kind of nonlinguistic representation improve comprehension for ELL students, it will help all of your students grasp concepts better.

2. Build in more group work.

"Kids aren't just empty glasses that we pour stuff into and then at the end of the day they dump it back onto a test," says Kim, an ESL teacher who was the subject of my very first podcast interview. "If you really want the kids to learn, they've got to be engaged." That means less teacher-led, whole-class instruction, and more small groups, where students can practice language with their peers in a more personal, lower-risk setting. And if ELL students attend your class with a resource teacher, make use of that person: In most cases the resource teacher doesn't have to work exclusively with the ESL students; they can work with smaller groups that happen to contain these students, helping to improve the teacher-student ratio and give kids more time to practice.

3. Communicate with the ESL teacher.

Mary Yurkosky, a former ESL teacher in Massachusetts, credits much of her students' success to the strong relationship she had with the regular classroom teachers. "The classroom teachers were always talking to me about what they were doing in their classes," she says. "They made it so easy for me to support them: If a teacher was going to be doing a unit on plants, I could make sure we used some of that same vocabulary in the ESL class."

Ideally, this could be systematized, where ESL teachers could regularly get copies of lesson plans or collaborate with regular classroom teachers to build solid back-and-forth support, but "it doesn't have to be that much work," Yurkosky insists. "Just talk to each other. Talk about what's going on in your classrooms, invite each other to special presentations, share what your students are learning, and the words will naturally find their way into the ESL class."

4. Honor the "silent period."

Many new language learners go through a silent period, during which they will speak very little, if at all. "Don't force them to talk if they don't want to," says Eddington, "A lot of students who come from cultures outside of America want to be perfect when they speak, so they will not share until they feel they are at a point where they're perfect." Just knowing that this is a normal stage in second language acquisition should help relieve any pressure you feel to move them toward talking too quickly.

5. Allow some scaffolding with the native language.

Although it has been a hotly debated topic in the language-learning community, allowing students some use of their first language (L1) in second-language (L2) classrooms is gaining acceptance. When a student is still very new to a language, it's okay to pair him with other students who speak his native language. "Some students are afraid to open their mouths at all for fear of sounding stupid or just not knowing the words to use," Yurkosky says. "Letting them explain things or ask questions in their first language gets them to relax and feel like a part of the class."

And this doesn't only apply to spoken language. If you give students a written assignment, but the ELL student doesn't yet have the proficiency to handle writing his response in English, "Don't make them just sit there and do nothing," Eddington says. "Allow them to write in their first language if they're able. This allows them to still participate in journal writing or a math extended response, even if you can't read what they write." There has even been some evidence that allowing second-language learners to pre-write and brainstorm in L1 results in higher-quality writing in L2 in later stages of the writing process (Yigzaw, 2012).

6. Look out for culturally unique vocabulary.

"For most of these kids, their background knowledge is lacking, especially with things that are unique to American or westernized culture," says Eddington. It's important to directly teach certain vocabulary words: "Show them videos of what it looks like to toss pizza dough, show pictures of a juke box or a clothing rack - things that are not common in their own language."

One way to differentiate for ELL students is to consider the whole list of terms you're going to teach for a unit, and if you think an ELL student may be overwhelmed by such a long list, omit those that are not essential to understanding the larger topic at hand.

7. Use sentence frames to give students practice with academic language.

All students, not just English language learners, need practice with academic conversations. Sentence frames - partially completed sentences like "I disagree with what _________ said because..." - show students how to structure language in a formal way. Keep these posted in a highly visible spot in your classroom and require students to refer to them during discussions and while they write.

For this kind of language to really sink in, though, Kim says it has to become a regular part of class. "They won't do it if it's not the norm in the class, because they'll be embarrassed to use it among their peers," she says. "But if they can put it off on the teacher and say, Oh, well, you know, Miss Kim makes me talk like this, then they don't look as hoity-toity as they would otherwise."

8. Pre-teach whenever possible.

If you're going to be reading a certain article next week, give ESL students a copy of it now. If you plan to show a YouTube video tomorrow, send a link to your ESL students today. Any chance you can give these students to preview material will increase the odds that they'll understand it on the day you present it to everyone else. "That kind of thing is wonderful," Yurkosky says. "The kids feel so empowered if they've had a chance to look at the material ahead of time."

9. Learn about the cultural background of your students...

Our second-language populations grow more diverse every year. Taking the time to learn the basics of where a child comes from - exactly, not 'somewhere in the Middle East/South America/Asia/Africa' - tells the student that you respect her enough to bother. Kim remembers one time when she had to set the record straight about the diverse South American population at her school: "I was listening to the teachers talking about the 'Mexican' kids in our building," she says, "and I was like, 'We don't have any Mexicans.'" Not taking the time to at least correctly identify a child's country of origin, much like not bothering to pronounce their name correctly, is a kind of microaggression, a small, subtle insult that communicates hostility toward people of color. Make a commitment to be someone who bothers to get it right.

Once you have the country straight, take things up a notch by learning about students' religious and cultural practices. If he is a practicing Muslim, he should be told if one of the pizzas you ordered for the class party has sausage on it. If she comes from a culture where eye contact with adults is viewed as disrespectful, you'll know not to force her to look you in the eye when she's talking.

10. ...but don't make a child speak for his entire culture.

In her podcast interview, Kim shared a story about watching a teacher ask a new Iraqi student how he felt about the war in his country, right in the middle of class. "That's not cultural inclusiveness," she explains. "I've seen teachers do this and then pat themselves on the back. The students' English is limited so they can't express themselves very well, and they don't want to 'represent'; they just want to be there." If you anticipate a theme coming up in your class that's going to be relevant to one of your students, have a conversation with them in advance, or check with your ESL teacher to see if they think it's appropriate for in-class discussion.

11. Show them how to take themselves less seriously...

By modeling the risk-taking that's required to learn a new language, you help students develop the courage to take their own risks, and to have a sense of humor about it. "I tried to say the word 'paint' ( pinta) in Portuguese and instead I said the word for 'penis' ( pinto). They all roared with laughter while I stood there with a What?? look on my face," Yurkosky says. "When they explained what I'd said, I laughed so hard! I told them that laughing was fine because sometimes mistakes are really funny, but ridicule is never okay."

12. ...but always take them seriously.

One of Kim's pet peeves about how teachers interact with English language learners is the way they often see students' efforts as 'cute,' missing the whole point of what the student is trying to say. "A student will be desperate to communicate, and the teacher will get distracted by the delivery and miss the message," she says. "That's painful for me to watch." It bothers her when teachers mistake a lack of language for a lack of intelligence or maturity. When a child can't express themselves as well as they would in their native language, it's far too easy to assume the concepts just aren't in their heads.

"It breaks my heart when I hear teachers say (ELL kids) don't know anything," says Eddington. "These are brilliant kids and they know a lot. They just can't tell us in English yet." Make a conscious effort to see past the accent and the mispronunciations and treat every interaction - every student - with the respect they deserve.

"They're doing twice the job of everybody else in the class," Kim adds, "even though the result looks like half as much." ♦

Further Reading

The ESL/ELL Teacher's Survival Guide is one of the highest-rated books on teaching English-language learners available. In addition to offering an overview of the research on second-language learners and best practices in teaching ESL, it also includes a whole section on teaching ESL in the content areas and another specifically geared toward teaching ELL students in mainstream classrooms.
References:
Walker, A., Shafer, J., & Iiams, M. (2004). "Not in my classroom": Teacher attitudes towards English language learners in the mainstream classroom. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 2(1), 130-160.

Yigzaw, A. (2012). Impact of L1 use in L2 English writing classes. Ethiopian Journal of Education and Sciences, 8(1), 11-27.

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12 Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom

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Advice from three ESL teachers on the things regular classroom teachers can do to help English language learners thrive in mainstream classrooms.

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Scaffolding Recommendations for ELA and Math

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Scaffolding Recommendations for ELA and Math

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4 Ways to Plan for the Success of Newcomer ELL's

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4 Ways to Plan for the Success of Newcomer ELL's

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4 Ways to Plan for the Success of Newcomer ELLs

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To help newly arrived English language learners feel welcome, teachers can represent their cultures and languages in the classroom.

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Meeting the Needs of EL's with and without Disabilities

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Meeting the Needs of EL's with and without Disabilities

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Essential Actions: 15 Research-based Practices to Increase ELL Student Achievement

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Essential Actions: 15 Research-based Practices to Increase ELL Student Achievement

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In this article written for Colorín Colorado, Bright Ideas author Kristina Robertson offers an overview of WIDA's new Essential Actions handbook and shares a step-by-step process for using this tool as part of a professional learning community focused on meeting ELLs' academic language needs.

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much. - Helen Keller

The first time I tried to collaborate with a mainstream teacher, I spent my time listening to her read stories to students and helping them with worksheets. It wasn't her fault that it was such a dreadful attempt at collaboration or that there were many problems, which included lack of planning time, lack of understanding of collaboration, and my poor placement in her specialist classroom focused on "character education."

Probably the biggest problem, however, was that we didn't have a way to communicate effectively about English Language Learners (ELLs). She didn't have background knowledge of their language proficiency levels and there were no English Language Development standards at the time, so even if we had wanted to be very intentional about language instruction, we didn't really know where to start.

Thankfully, now there are many more ELL resources readily available, and general knowledge about ELLs' academic language needs have increased. In addition, the WIDA consortia (World-class Instructional Design and Assessment) recently published a very useful collaborative resource for teachers called Essential Actions: A Handbook for Implementing WIDA's Framework for English Language Development Standards by Margo Gottlieb.

This guide is designed to help individual teachers, teaching teams, and district-teams evaluate and improve their EL instructional practices according to research principles that are the underpinnings of WIDA's English Language Development Standards.

I want to give you an overview of the Essential Actions Handbook components and examine it through the lens of how it might be used for collaboration within a Professional Learning Community (PLC) to increase research-based practices for ELLs. I will also provide some possible extension ideas using digital tools to share evidence of the Essential Actions.

Essential Actions Handbook Overview

Purpose

The Essential Actions Handbook states:

This handbook is designed to be a resource to share among educators who work directly with or are impacted by ELLs. It is a guide that describes and illustrates the standards-referenced components and elements of language learning within WIDA's standards framework.

The overall purpose of this handbook is to promote collaboration, mutual understanding, and use of language development standards among all educators who work with ELLs. The Essential Actions, derived from current theory and research, provide a rationale for each component and element of WIDA's standards framework.

In other words, this handbook is designed to provide research-based rationale for the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) standards framework; however, the components are also broad-based quality indicators for working with ELLs. Therefore, one of the main goals is to use it to increase evidence-based practices collaboration among teachers who work with ELLs.

Organization and content

As you can see in the table below, there are 15 Essential Actions (also available in this PDF online, found on pg. 11 of the handbook). The first 12 Actions are directly related to instruction and Actions 13 - 15 are related to effective teacher collaboration. The Actions are designed to stimulate professional conversation about meeting the academic language needs of ELLs and do not need to be followed in order. There is also a self-assessment tool that can be used to determine the highest priority actions and where to start - more on that later.

ACTION 1
Capitalize on the resources
and experiences that ELLs
bring to school to build
and enrich their academic
language.

ACTION 3
Apply the background
knowledge of ELLs,
including their language
proficiency profiles, in
planning differentiated
language teaching.

ACTION 15
Share responsibility so that
all teachers are language
teachers and support one
another within communities
of practice.

Each Action is related to the WIDA matrix and is designed to give more detailed information to assist in effectively using the matrix for planning. In the Essential Actions Handbook, each Action has its own section that follows the same format:

Explanation of the Essential Action

Research to support the Action

A description of how it relates to the WIDA standards framework for English language development

Examples from the field (written by educators) regarding the Action and guiding questions for discussing locally how to apply the Action to practice in your context

How to Use the Handbook with a PLC

There are many ways to use this Essential Actions Handbook and I have chosen to highlight one use that I believe many of the teachers I have worked with would find effective in working together to meet the needs of ELLs. Many educators are receiving professional development through job-embedded learning opportunities such as Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). They may be called different things - Teacher Learning Communities or Professional Communities, but their purpose is to bring educators together in teams to define their own learning in regards to individual or school goals.

One well-known leader in this area is Richard DuFour and if you'd like more detailed information on PLCs, please view this article, " What is a Professional Learning Community?" DuFour highlights three questions that each PLC team needs to answer as they focus on their work together.

What do we want each student to learn?

How will we know when each student has learned it?

How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning?

PLC work, by it's very nature, is collaborative and constructs the learning based on what teachers experience daily in their classrooms. In the discussion below, I will use the Essential Actions Handbook as a guide for the process of meeting the academic language needs of ELLs.

For the purposes of this article, I'll describe our PLC team as a third-grade teaching team: two classroom teachers, an ESL teacher, and a Title I reading and math support teacher. The ESL and Title I teachers are in the third-grade classrooms and also pull out some students for special support up to an hour each day.

There are approximately 15 ELL students out of 50 third-graders and the majority have composite English Language Proficiency (ELP) levels of 3-5 according to ACCESS for ELLs or another annual assessment; however there are three new students who are at ELP level 1 and one student who is at ELP level 2. (See WIDA's Performance Definitions for reference.)

Individually, each ELL student has unique language domain scores, meaning that they all have unique areas of strength and challenge. For example, some are still in earlier stages of developing reading and writing skills in English, while their oral English skills are more advanced and others have a different mix of skills in the language domains.

Needs assessment

The PLC team has been given the task to align their professional learning with the school goal of "Increasing ELL student state reading scores by 6% by May 2014." The team starts by analyzing the detailed assessment scores of their ELLs in order to get a better sense of what they need instructionally. The PLC team looks at:

Students' state reading scores

School-wide assessments that provide scores for vocabulary and comprehension

English Language Proficiency scores from the ACCESS for ELLs test

They can see a pattern forming: the ELL students are weak and need to expand their comprehension and vocabulary - although in general they read fluently.

Next, the PLC team members individually complete the Needs Assessment, Column A from the Essential Actions Handbook (Gottlieb, pg. 68). Using a scale of 0-5, they rate how important each Action is according to their instructional goal. They may have quite a few that come out as their top priority. On their own they may want to read the Essential Action sections they rated most highly in order to familiarize themselves with the research or they may want to write their thoughts in the "comments" box to facilitate discussion with the group.

When the PLC team meets, they each share their top three Actions they've identified as most important to reaching their ELL reading goal. They will look for overlap in their priorities and select one or two as their instructional focus for their PLC work over the next six-eight weeks.

Create goal

Let's say that our PLC team decides to focus on Essential Action 3: "Apply the background knowledge of ELLs, including their language proficiency profiles, in planning differentiated language teaching." The Essential Action Handbook research states, "Information about the backgrounds of the students, including their linguistic and content abilities, is key to plan and deliver differentiated instruction to optimize opportunities for learning (Tomlinson, 2003;Fairbairn & Jones-Vo, 2010)." (Gottlieb, pg. 20)

The teachers feel that planning targeted instruction based on the students' language proficiency levels will make good use of their ESL and Title I individualized support, in addition to the scaffolded content instruction the classroom teachers will provide. In order to crystalize their background knowledge on Action Three, the teachers read the section and discuss the following reflection questions (Gottlieb, pg. 24)

1. How might you use the Performance Definitions to help formulate instructional strategies (e.g., in grouping students or differentiating language objectives)?

2. How might you use the Performance Definitions to help scaffold content instruction for ELLs?

3. When might educators use a student's overall composite language proficiency level (from ACCESS for ELLs) versus the language proficiency level for each language domain?

The teachers write their collective answers to these reflection questions. It's okay if their answers are tentative at first and begin with, "We're not sure but we think..." They will return to these questions as part of the reflection process in the PLC.

The PLC teams sets their goal to "Increase ELLs reading comprehension by providing differentiated language instruction based on student language proficiency levels."

To begin their work towards their goal, the teachers discuss, "What will success look like?" In other words, how will they know when they are implementing Action Three successfully? They decide on three success indicators:

Teachers will:

Know students' language domain proficiency levels

Use language domain information to provide differentiated options for classroom and pull-out instruction and tasks

Assess reading comprehension using language proficiency accommodated tasks

Implement strategies

Over the next two meetings, the PLC team organizes their work around the three success indicators they identified. They determine they need to continue their learning in a few different ways.

First, they need to know their students' language domain proficiency levels and have them easily available for instructional planning. They download the " Can Do Name Charts" from the WIDA website and work together to complete the charts and make copies to share. They also need more information about what educators can expect from students at different language proficiency levels according to the WIDA Performance Definitions (Gottlieb, pgs. 22 & 23).

The ESL teacher is able to provide further guidance in this area and the group also accesses some online resources from their state website about strategies for different language proficiency levels. Finally they have a conversation about what formative comprehension assessment looks like connected with content instruction. They study some resources about common formative assessments and use the Academic Language Framework as a guide as they determine some common vocabulary, sentence structures, and discourse needed for an upcoming unit on geographic landmarks. (This fits DuFour's first question, "1. What do we want them to learn?")

Collect evidence

At each PLC meeting the teachers provide evidence of student learning and discuss DuFour's other two questions:

How will we know when each student has learned it?

How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning?

The teachers share insights on how to differentiate according to different language levels - how they've successfully modified materials or grouped students, examples of student learning using language related to content, and what works to help students who are still developing the academic language they need to communicate what they know. The types of evidence teachers might share are student assignments, notes or rubrics on student language production, student questions, and audio or video clips of student interaction.

Share and discuss

Throughout the process, teachers assist each other in brainstorming ways to model, instruct, and assess the students using content-based language at their proficiency levels. They may need to discover more resources to help them in certain areas and they may find items in the WIDA download library, online video clips or other research resources that will provide further guidance.

During this phase of PLC work teachers will often say things such as, "Tell me more about that?", "How exciting!", "I can hear your frustration, I'm wondering if..." or "One thought I had was..." The sharing is open, supportive, and focused on listening while also providing ideas. At the end of the PLC, each teacher should have a clear action step in mind for implementing with the students and will report back to the PLC in the next meeting.

Reflect

Finally at the end of the PLC cycle (usually six-eight weeks), the teachers will revisit the Action Three reflection questions, their identified success indicators, and evidence of student learning. They review their initial responses to the Action Three reflection questions and add further information based on their learning experiences, adding their own evidence as much as possible. They discuss the evidence they have around their success indicators. Are all teachers aware of the student language proficiency levels and using them to differentiate instruction? Again, they provide as much evidence as possible to support their claims.

Finally, they look for evidence of student learning. When language was presented at a proficiency level that allowed the student to use the discourse, sentence structure and vocabulary required to demonstrate content knowledge - could they do it?

Teachers share evidence of student language production and content learning. Then they have a group hug, go home feeling great about their teaching career and all week people keep asking them if they've lost weight or done something with their hair... Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit there at the end, but really, a PLC team that works well together with a mission to become better for the students they love will feel very empowered and see positive results - both in student learning and in developing stronger collaborative partnerships with other educators.

Extension-Digital Tools

If the PLC team members have a positive experience and feel strongly that others will benefit from what they've learned, it's a great idea to seek ways to share their new knowledge with other educators. This could be with another grade-level PLC team, at a school-wide staff meeting or ELL focus data day, or at a district professional development forum where other teachers are gathering to focus on the needs of ELLs. It's also possible that they may want to share their findings digitally so others can access it according to their own schedules. If the PLC members want to explore digital sharing, they may want to experiment with some digital tools throughout the process so they have something to share electronically.

Here are a few (mostly free) tools I've been enjoying lately and they lend themselves nicely to connecting through digital media:

is an online video response system that allows a teacher to pose a question and send the link to a group. Respondents each record a 90-second video response, and the responses are visible to all with the link. I like this system because it's quick, easy, allows you to view on your own time, and it's fun to hear your colleagues' responses rather than reading it on a bulletin post. Flipgrid has a free trial period and then there is an annual subscription fee. (Try it out with the example below!)

Teaching Channel is a great online video resource website that has professional classroom video clips, study guides, and teacher discussion posts. It is a website designed for teachers who want to "get into other peoples' classrooms" and see instructional strategies. The other tool they've created that I'm excited about is the Tch Recorder app (for iPad and iPhone). This is a video recording app that allows you to easily record your own instruction or student interaction with the tap of a button and then easily upload it to your "workspace" on the Teaching Channel. The videos can be kept private for your own review, or if your school or district decides to use this system for team sharing, there is a "Teaching Channel Teams" component that allows you to interact in a coaching manner with the videos to make comments and share resources. Teaching Channel resources and workspace is free, but the Teaching Channel Teams cost money for site or district-level use.

Wikispaces is an online content management system that allows for sharing of resources, photos, video clips and much more. This is a great "virtual desktop" that allows many users to create the content and have online discussions. It is free for educators.

There are many tools a PLC team can use for their own learning and for ultimately sharing with others. These are just a few ideas that educators might enjoy playing with to gain new insights into their own learning and an opportunity to share meaningfully with others.

Conclusion

In the current climate of finger pointing and blaming about how bad education is, I actually see improvement in the use of collaboration, especially around meeting the needs of traditionally underserved populations such as ELLs. With more research and tools to guide conversations between educators, ELL academic achievement will continue to climb. If I had had ELD standards, support for effective collaboration, and a useful resource such as the Essential Actions Handbook long ago, I believe I would have done more than listen to stories and help with worksheets. Together we would have been an educational team focused on the identified language needs of ELLs and providing differentiated support to help them achieve.

As Helen Keller said, "Together we can do so much." These days, I see many educators teaming up, working hard to learn new instructional strategies for diverse learners and giving their best every day to ensure the achievement of all students. I would love to hear from educators who use the Essential Actions Handbook for their own learning or as part of a PLC or professional learning environment. Please click on the Flipgrid question below and tell us in 90 seconds or less how you've used the Essential Actions Handbook to take action in your classroom, school, or district!

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Essential Actions: 15 Research-based Practices to Increase ELL Student Achievement

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In this article written for Colorín Colorado, Bright Ideas author Kristina Robertson offers an overview of WIDA's new Essential Actions handbook and shares a step-by-step process for using this tool as part of a professional learning community focused on meeting ELLs' academic language needs. Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.

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Free online ESL games to help students learn English in a fun and interactive way.

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In general, for all grouping scenarios, there are two methods to group your students for support in the classroom: heterogeneous grouping and homogeneous grouping.

Heterogeneous Grouping

Heterogeneous grouping is a grouping of students that have mixed abilities in some way. Heterogeneous grouping can apply to many kinds of scenarios: for example, students can be grouped heterogeneously by content level understanding, by varying interests, by differing strengths in certain skills, by behaviors, or by language proficiency. Heterogeneous grouping helps support students in learning from each other's strengths and can also help support specific tasks or roles within the group. However, if left unchecked, heterogeneous grouping can lead to one or a few students completing most of the work and feeling responsible for students who may not grasp the activity. Generally speaking, ELLs often find themselves primarily in heterogeneous groups, or groups consisting of both native English speakers and second-language speakers of the language of instruction. These groups can provide an authentic communication experience, and within this context, educators typically align the classroom projects and assignments to the grade level of the native English speakers-often resulting in assignments of increased rigor. Additionally, ELLs in heterogeneous groupings gain opportunities to experience English with native speakers in the academic context more frequently. Sometimes, ELLs can experience distress when teachers only focus on planning instruction based primarily on native English speakers, as the language needs of the activities or the provided texts can leave the EL learner struggling to keep pace. Or, when EL students are placed in a competitive position with more proficient native speakers, this can result in a hesitation on behalf of the EL learners, as they may not wish to engage as readily if they feel inadequate. So, it is essential to purposefully consider when to use heterogeneous grouping and how you will support your ELLs in the lesson activities.

Homogeneous Grouping

Homogeneous grouping is a grouping of students that have similar abilities in some way. Homogeneous grouping can apply to many kinds of scenarios: for example, students can be grouped homogeneously by content level understanding, by reading level, by learning styles, by behaviors, by prerequisite skills, or by other academic behaviors or skills. Homogeneous grouping can be great for things like guided reading groups, interventions, extension activities, or differentiation methods where tasks need to be targeted to specific skill or proficiency levels. It can also be used to group students by their language levels. However, if not adequately balanced with other grouping methods, students may feel either exclusive or excluded. There may also be fewer opportunities for students to work up to meet other group members' skills.

The two language-based grouping methods in homogeneous groups are grouping by second language group or by primary language group.

Second Language Groups

Second language groups support students in working on improving in English and the academic content simultaneously. While learning academic content, students work in the English language alongside others with similar language needs. This method allows you to differentiate instruction to each group based on improvement in their language proficiency while still working on academic content. These groupings allow for consistent language practice within content lessons, as long as the teacher supports it. However, if not planned well, the activities provided within this group may result in limited content depth if a greater focus is placed on language development. Opportunities to experience English with native speakers in the academic context are also more limited.

Primary Language Groups

Learning in the students' primary language can offer students a far deeper exploration of academic content. Here, the English language is not being practiced or supported, but allowing students to communicate in their primary language with each other as they interact with tasks and activities can allow them to dive more deeply into the academic content and promote mastery of the ideas. However, if students are not exposed regularly to other grouping forms, utilizing primary language groups can often deny students the right opportunities to learn the English language at an appropriate pace. It may also have unintended consequences by segregating students inappropriately along ethnic lines.

How you group your English Language Learners will depend on a variety of factors, like your lesson goal, the activity, your classroom environment, their learning style, their primary language, and more. But continuously reflecting on methods for purposely grouping your students can help to ensure you are doing all you can to support your ELL students in your classroom.

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Understanding Grouping Considerations for English Language Learners

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Understanding Grouping Considerations for English Language Learners by Model Teaching | November 18, 2021. English Language Learners (ELLs) benefit from activities in your classroom that can help them both interact with the lesson content and improve their English Language proficiency.

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