Sentence Scramble: Students will be given a set of words from a sentence that is out of order. Students have to then arrange the words to make the sentence make sense. To differentiate for various learners, capitalizing the first word to give hints would benefit students. Also working with a small amount of words and then gradually increasing to not overwhelm students.

Ex. on lemonade a I day drink hot

Corrected: I drink lemonade on a hot day

Noun Scavenger Hunt: Once students are comfortable with nouns, have them identify nouns around the classroom. To challenge students even more have them identify nouns that start with each letter of the alphabet.

Sorting Adjectives, Verbs, and Nouns: Teachers will place different adjectives, verbs, and nouns on popsicle sticks. Students will work in small groups to sort words. This activity helps students practice grammar

Diamante Poem: This 7-lined, diamond-shaped, non-rhyming poem that will include nouns, verbs, and adjectives. The words used will be either synonyms or antonyms of the starting noun. Students can choose any topic to write about.

Ex: Shown above (Thespeechexpress.com)

Semantic Maps: Visual representations used to show connections between a main word or phrase and related concepts or words(Zorfass & Gray, n.d). Semantic maps assist students in understanding and remembering the meaning of words encountered in a text.

Online Semantics Activities: Websites like Bubbl.us provide activities students can practice connecting words and phrases.

Synonym game: Students will be given a word and then have to come up with a synonym for the word. For students who may find this activity difficult, teachers can give them a synonym, creating a teaching moment to build their vocabulary. This activity can also be used with antonyms.

When focusing on a specific topic, teachers can read books, watch videos, or even take a field trip based on the topic. This activity helps students make connections between the words based on the different resources. The resources are differentiated based on the different ways students learn (visual, auditory, kinesthetic)

Role Playing: Having students pair up and pick out of a box various scenarios to act out. These scenarios can range from ordering at a restaurant, dealing with conflict, or telling a doctor you are not well. This activity allows for ELLs to use appropriate language, different social cues, and also how to problem solve.

Conversation Starters: To get students to have meaningful conversations, students can be given conversation starters from a jar. Students will take turns answering the prompt. For learners of lower levels, questions can be translated into their native languages. This game aims for students to practice maintaining and initiating conversations for social use. It also allows students to practice listening.

Charades: Without speaking students will take turns acting out a word or phrase that others will have to guess. Visuals of phrases can be given to students of different levels to act out. This activity helps students use nonverbal cues to understand what is implied.

Accountable talk: Accountable talk helps with moving forward in the conversation. When students are sharing ideas in the classroom students can use accountable talk stems to move the conversation. To scaffold accountable talk, talking prompts can be posted in the classroom for students to refer to

Ex: Could you please explain …?

What if …?

Thank you for sharing. I liked …

I wonder if...?

Finley, T. (2014, January 2). 8 strategies for teaching academic language. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/8-strategies-teaching-academic-language-todd-finley