• This activity builds word recognition and understanding through visual cues.

  Encourages categorization, which helps with memory and word associations.

  Promotes oral language use when students form sentences.

• Younger or Emerging Learners (e.g., 3–4 years old):

  Use fewer categories with clear visuals and fewer words.

  Allow pointing or using single words to express understanding.

  Provide model sentences (e.g., “This is a dog.”).

  Intermediate Learners (e.g., 4–5 years old):

  
  

  Use more categories and more complex words (e.g., feelings like “excited” or “frustrated”).

  Encourage students to use short sentences (e.g., “I see a happy face.”).

  Add matching games (word to picture) to build word-picture connections.

  
  

  Advanced Learners (e.g., 5+ years old):

  Introduce synonyms/antonyms (e.g., “happy” and “sad”).

  Ask students to use vocabulary in contextual sentences or short stories.

  Allow students to lead the categorization, suggesting their own groups.

  
  

  
  

PBS Kids for Parents provides free, fun vocabulary games and reading activities using characters like Elmo and Daniel Tiger. It also includes tips for turning everyday moments into learning opportunities.

https://www.pbs.org/parents

This website is useful because it's great for all backgrounds and living situations. It is easy to utilize and can be used on any device.

Khan Academy Kids - FREE APP.

https://learn.khanacademy.org/khan-academy-kids/

Khan Academy is a free educational app with interactive books, games, and videos focused on reading and vocabulary development for ages 2–8.

It helps and adapts to a child’s learning level.

• Includes vocabulary instruction within stories and activities.

• Ideal for families with limited educational resources or busy schedules

• Covers: All five components of reading

• Why use it: Offers 300+ strategies to support individual reading needs in whole group, small group, or one-on-one settings.

• Audience: K–8 educators

2. 🎧 Podcast: Science of Reading: The Podcast (by Amplify Education)

• Covers: Research-based practices in phonics, fluency, comprehension, and more

• Why use it: Features interviews with experts on how reading develops and how to support struggling readers

• Audience: Teachers, interventionists, parents

3. 📄 Journal Article: “Effective Literacy Instruction for Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities”

• Covers: Vocabulary, phonics, comprehension (with adapted strategies)

• Why use it: Provides research-based approaches for students with significant learning needs

• Audience: Special education teachers, intervention teams

• Source: The Journal of Special Education, Browder et al. (2006)

4. 🎥 Video: “Supporting English Language Learners in Reading” (Colorín Colorado)

• Covers: Vocabulary and comprehension strategies for ELLs

• Why use it: Offers classroom examples and family engagement tips for language development through reading

• Audience: General and ESL educators

• Watch here: www.colorincolorado.org

5. 📘 Book: Mindsets in the Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci

• Covers: Engagement and motivation for gifted and advanced readers

• Why use it: Helps educators build a growth mindset culture around reading and learning

• Audience: Teachers of gifted and talented students

Read a short story aloud to the class (or have students read it in small groups).

Provide students with picture cards that represent key events, characters, and settings from the story.

Students retell the story in order, using the cards as prompts.

Encourage students to explain what happened first, next, and last, and to describe how characters felt or what they learned.

This activity supports comprehension by helping children organize the story’s structure (beginning, middle, and end), encouraging the use of oral language and detailed recall, and reinforcing their understanding of key elements like plot, setting, characters, and sequence.

https://www.storylineonline.net

• Features celebrities reading children’s books aloud with visuals and text on screen.

• Families can pause the story to ask comprehension questions like “What do you think will happen next?”

• Great for auditory and visual learners.

Colorín Colorado – For ELL Families

Website: https://www.colorincolorado.org/families

• Bilingual resource (English/Spanish) for helping children understand and discuss stories.

• Includes family reading guides, printable questions, and vocabulary-building tips.

• Designed specifically for English Language Learners and multilingual households.

• Focus: Practical comprehension strategies like questioning, visualizing, and inferring

• Why use it: Offers real classroom examples and lesson ideas to improve deeper understanding of text

• Grade Range: 1st–8th

2. 🎧 Podcast: Teaching Reading K–2: A Podcast from The Teacher’s Lounge (by Amplify)

• Focus: Early comprehension development and how to support it through read-alouds and guided reading

• Why use it: Features expert interviews and practical tips for building comprehension in young learners

3. 📄 Journal Article: “Comprehension Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities” by Sharon Vaughn & Sylvia Linan-Thompson

• Focus: Evidence-based methods for supporting reading comprehension in students with special needs

• Why use it: Discusses explicit instruction, scaffolding, and vocabulary support tailored to diverse learners

• Source: Intervention in School and Clinic

4. 🎥 Video: “Reading Comprehension Strategies for ELLs” (Colorín Colorado)

• Focus: Visual and verbal strategies to boost comprehension for English Language Learners

• Why use it: Demonstrates real classroom use of techniques like graphic organizers, think-alouds, and retelling

• Link: www.colorincolorado.org

5. 📘 Book: Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers & Robert Probst

• Focus: Helps students think deeply about fiction and nonfiction texts through “signposts” and guided questions

• Why use it: Especially great for gifted readers and those ready for higher-order thinking