Reading Strategies
- Classroom Strategies, Curriculum, Planning Strategies, Reading Strategies, Teaching Strategies, Writing Strategies
Finding a Curriculum: Tips & Strategies
We are going to start off today’s blog with your reflection question. How are you planning to plan for your Language Learners this school year? Take a moment to reflect on this question. Think about this question and answer to yourself honestly where you stand. One of the biggest obstacles that many professionals who support Language Learners face is the lack of a curriculum. This is the biggest question that educators are asking themselves and others. The most frustrating part of this is that searching and looking for a curriculum can take so much of a teacher’s time. I know this because I have been there, and I am still…
- Curriculum, Language Objectives, Lesson Ideas, Reading, Reading Strategies, Speaking Activities, Teaching Strategies, Writing Strategies
Close Reading with Language Learners
Would you like to download a copy of this episode’s transcript? Simply click here for the download. Welcome educators! My wish is that you are having a fantastic school year. Before we dive into our topic this week I have a reflection question for you. I want to encourage you to pause and take a moment to think about and answer the question: How has your lesson planning been going the first half of the school year? Jot down your thoughts and really reflect on the first semester. There are many of you out there that have heard the buzz word close reading. I am here to tell you that…
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Teaching Reading Skills through Read Alouds
Hey everyone! Welcome to My Adventures in ESL! Have you ever done a read aloud in your class and felt the boredom ooze from your students? I honestly wondered what is the benefit of me doing a read aloud when my students are bored out of their minds. Couldn’t I be using this time to teach my ELLs some important reading skills? I would often do read alouds and my students just weren’t into them like I hoped. I knew that there were tons of benefits of students hearing a fluent reader reading a text with expression. It just seemed at the moment that my students weren’t connecting to my…
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Increasing ELLs Listening Skills
Has there ever been the situation where you have had to repeat yourself over and over again for your ELLs? There have been times when I have been like “I know have said this 5.5 times, and they still are not listening and understanding. If this is you, my fellow teachers you might have a problem in your students listening comprehension. This can affect the students comprehension skills and assignments if they are struggling in this language domain. I always thought the listening domain was the easiest for students to achieve high scores and success. I mean all it is students listening and following directions. This is where my thought…
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The Power of Novel Studies
So many new ESL teachers ask what do I teach my ELLs. I always answer with the same curriculum you would teach any student. You simply add the scaffolds and differentiate for your student needs. Now if you are still stuck novel studies are a great way to make planning out your curriculum easier. The current curriculum that is implemented at my school is centered around novel studies. I’ll be the first to admit it makes planning so much easier for ELLs. I can add visuals, videos, graphic novels, non-fiction text and so much more to supplement the novel. PLUS there is usually tons of free materials out there to…
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Literacy Stations for ELLs
I simply love using stations in my classroom. The students are very engaged with the activity, and it is a great way to create independence in your classroom. The students, with the proper routines and procedures, are engaged and working efficiently. Here are some stations that I use in my classroom to promote independence and to encourage academic achievement. The first station that I use is vocabulary station. At the vocabulary stations I usually have different activities the students can do. For example, I have a vocabulary activity called Scrabble Tiles. The students use scrabble tiles to spell out vocabulary words. Then they use those words in sentences. Another activity…
