Let's be real, planning weekly lessons in the ESL classroom can be an overwhelming task. Factors include caseloads and the sheer number of students/small groups serviced. Also, heterogenous groupings with a variety of language levels make it difficult to target specific language needs of students. Perhaps you're a new teacher and simply haven't had the guidance yet on planning ESL lessons. Here are a few tips to help make planning less stressful. ESL instruction is often vague because, in most cases, there's no curriculum to follow or even to guide. We are left to our own devices to plan and provide lessons for our students that build language skills in the four language domains of listening, reading, speaking and writing. That alone can make planning overwhelming. Tie in grade level content and setting language goals, and it's a LOT to consider! Let's start with a few pre-planning tips. These will support successful lesson planning. PRE-PLANNING TIPS 1- Lesson Planner Book It's really important to have a place to keep all things planning in one place. I don't know where I'd be without my lesson plan book. Things I keep in my planner in addition to lesson plans are: 1- Student lists with ELP levels broken down by each domain, 2- The curriculum my students are learning in their gen ed classrooms so that I can integrate my ELD lessons with the grade level content whenever possible, 3- A calendar to keep me on track with events that impact my instructional schedule, such as meetings and testing, 4- Language goals and data collection to track student progress. There are some really awesome print and go planners, as well as digital planners out there. Find one that suits your needs AND brings you joy. :) 2- Know Your Students One of our main goals is to take students from their current language proficiency level to the next level. Knowing students and their needs is critical to planning appropriate lessons. Students have an English Language Proficiency (ELP) level, but what does that mean exactly? So, my student has an ELP level 3, but what can she do in each language domain? I won't know what to teach her if I don't know the starting point for her. Look at the breakdown of all 4 language domains and identify the weaker domains for each student. Keep this information in your plan book, or somewhere easily accessible. This is valuable information, but it's a very small piece of data. More importantly, I need to know what my students can do right now. Their latest scores might be 6 months old, so I want to also gather current data. Assessments I give at the beginning to determine starting points: phonemic awareness (newcomers) phonics writing (give a prompt that students have plenty of background knowledge) reading I need to know what level of reading I can expect from students, not just with decoding, but more importantly comprehending. For writing, if my student is a newcomer with little to no English, I want to see a sample of their writing in their native language. This will give a lot of information about the literacy skills new students bring to the table. Once I know what my students CAN DO, I can then plan targeted ELD lessons to meet their language and literacy needs. Without this information, I'd be trying to hit a target in the dark, and that's not servicing the students or myself. 3- Student Placement in Small Groups Each small group, in my opinion, should be homogeneous. I group students according to needs, not necessarily by ELP level, although generally it works out that most level 3 students, for example, have similar needs, but not always. Grouping students with similar needs is key to targeting the skills they need to move from one level to the next. OK, I've got my plan book, my student data and my small groups identified by need. Now what? Tips to Make Lesson Planning Less Stressful 1- Consistent Weekly Activities Incorporate consistent activities that target your students' needs, preferably that don't require planning time, and add them in your plan book every week. For example, I go through my plan book and add "phonics" to certain days for certain groups each week, so that's one less thing I need to plan. I have all the phonics materials on hand, so I simple print out and copy what I need and go. I also do an Idiom of the Week activity and a "Friday Focus on Grammar" for other groups. Those automatically go into my lesson plan book each week as well! Several of my groups have a warm-up activity when they first come into my room. The activity takes about 5-10 minutes, but that's another chunk of time I don't need to plan. My level 1s and 2s have an irregular sight word booklet, and my level 3s and 4s have a Restate the Question writing prompt. Irregular Sight Words - Warm Up Activity Finding consistent and meaningful weekly activities to add to your plan book cuts down on planning time. Other examples of weekly activities: -Grammar lessons (so many possibilities- What do YOUR students need?) -Vocabulary - multiple meaning words, synonyms/antonyms, shades of meaning words, content vocabulary, affixes, thematic monthly vocabulary, etc. -Idiom of the Week -Word Work - Affixes is a great focus area! -Read Alouds -Let's Talk! -oral language activities (purposeful oral language development is so important) One of my favorite "Let's Talk!" activities is projecting a picture and having students talk about what they see happening. It could be content related or simply an interesting photograph. An awesome resource for this is Chuck Dillon's website. He's such a fantastic illustrator! Each picture has tons of action, which means there's never a shortage of things to talk about. Pick a couple of "Weekly Activities" and plug them into your plan book each week. Here's a blog post that shares "3 Weekly Activities that Do Not Require Planning." 2 - "Go-To" Activities These are helpful to have on hand whenever you feel unsure about what to plan next, or you just need a meaningful "filler" lesson. We all need those from time to time. These lessons are still high-quality lessons that target the needs of our students, but they don't require planning time. Some Go-To Activity Examples: PWIM with any picture (picture word inductive model) Inferring using pictures 5 Ws and H using pictures Mind Maps Language Games This Build a Sentence activity uses the PWIM strategy to generate words about a picture. In this activity, we use the words to generate sentences of varying lengths. And on this particular day, I also challenged my students to use position words in their sentences. To start, I ask students to tell me something they see in the picture. The students generate the words and I write them on the board in different colors depending on the part of speech. Students also generate the sentences, and I support with grammar, as needed. It's a great activity to have on hand, as it covers many skills and is easily adaptable. They are "one and done" lesson activities that are meaningful AND build language skills. Having a variety of these resources to pull from definitely makes planning less stressful because I know I have language building lessons that I can plug in whenever needed. 3- Language Function or Thematic Units If you know me at all, you know I LOVE planning and teaching language function units. This truly makes my planning less overwhelming. MOST, if not all, of my students across multiple grade levels work on building language around the same language function, so when I plan, I have one LF in mind for everyone. Whoo-hoo! For example, when I teach the language of Compare and Contrast, I focus on that language with all of my groups. I don't have 10 different groups doing 10 different things; they are ALL learning the language of Compare/Contrast, which makes planning SO much more manageable! Some groups might need more focus on expressive language skills while others need more practice with receptive language skills, but I know that the overarching focus for all is the language of Compare/Contrast. Plus, often times I can reuse lessons with multiple groups. Halleluiah! And by tweaking lessons with some additional scaffolds, I can use them with even more groups. This is a huge time saver! Language Function: Compare/Contrast Language Function: Fact/Opinion Each language function unit lasts about 4 weeks; and once it's planned out, there's not a lot of additional planning that needs to be done during that time period. I don't start a new unit until all my groups are finished, so while I'm finishing up the unit with some groups, I use "filler" lessons with the groups that are already done. To learn more about incorporating language function units in the ESL classroom, check out the blog post links below. 4- Reusing lessons is honestly my #1 tip for making planning more manageable and less stressful. And maybe you can't use an entire lesson with multiple groups, but you can use a portion of the lesson. How many groups can I use this lesson with? How can I tweak this lesson so that I can use it with more groups? Those are questions I ask myself as I plan. RECAP: 1- Incorporate Consistent Weekly Activities (phonics, grammar, vocabulary) and plug them into your plan book each week. 2- Go-To Activities (have a variety of meaningful filler activities on hand) 3- Language Function Units (all groups learning the same Language Function) 4- Reuse Lessons with multiple groups! As I mentioned earlier, sometimes the overwhelming feeling of planning comes from the sheer number of students and groups serviced. Or it could be that our numbers are low, but we service 6-12 grade levels. Many ESL teachers travel between schools. There's a variety of reasons that can make planning stressful. Regardless of the reasons, having these tools in your teacher toolbox can help make planning less stressful. Linked below are some of the blog posts and instructional resources mentioned in this post. Teaching Language Functions with English Learners Language Forms and Functions in the ESL Classroom

Lead your class in a thought provoking discussion with this RS lesson plan kit! This kit is designed to help you prepare an engaging discussion, while also leaving you with room to follow the Spirit in what the sisters you lead need to hear! Conference study guide and Relief Society lesson helps for "Words Matter" by Elder Ronald A. Rasband from the April 2024 General Conference This DIGITAL DOWNLOAD kit is designed to help you deeply study the words from General Conference and put them into action. It’s perfect for your own personal study or to help you with your teaching. WHAT’S INCLUDED IN MY KIT? You will receive a zipped file which includes: - 6 Paged Study Guide Workbook - Discussion Questions in a variety of formats - FHE Image Page with discussion and ponder questions - QR Code Page - Lesson “Invitation” - Unique Class Handouts - 9 Presentation Slides in jpg format AND in a PowerPoint format - 8x10 Printable Affirmation Quote - 4x6 Printable Affirmation Quote - 4-to a Page Printable Affirmation Quote - Minimalist Black and White Quote - Lesson Image The STUDY WORKBOOK has unique, talk-specific activities that will guide you through studying and applying the principles taught and help you prepare to teach. A variety of DISCUSSION QUESTIONS are included to help you guide a thoughtful and engaged discussion. Beautiful PRESENTATION SLIDES are included with video instructions to help you quickly make a lesson presentation. Blank slides are included for you to customize to the needs of those you teach. Slides come in jpg format and in PowerPoint (.pptx) format. The LESSON OUTLINE is provided in a PDF and Google Docs format and helps you to gather your thoughts and follow the Spirit as you create a lesson that meets the needs of those YOU teach. This kit also includes additional lesson helps: printable affirmation quotes, QR code, unique class handouts and a fun lesson “invitation.” Printable quotes come in a variety of sizes and a printer friendly option. Teaching suggestions are provided for ways you can use your study kit for class, FHE, individual, or couples study. ________________________________________________________________ PRINTING TERMS: Downloads are for personal use only. You may print as many copies as you would like for your own personal, family or classroom use. Printing for any other use, commercial use, re-selling, or any other sharing of printed or digital files is NOT ALLOWED. Please do not share digital files. _____________________________________________________________ WHERE ARE MY FILES? After purchase, you can download your files… … from your Etsy purchases tab - http://www.etsy.com/your/purchases … from your email receipt that was sent to the email on your Etsy account _____________________________________________________________ THE LITTLE DETAILS ***** Please note that this purchase is for a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD and nothing will be shipped. **** You will receive the files to print at home or your favorite printer. Due to the nature of digital files, no refunds are available. Samples shown are a representation of what’s included. The actual questions and content on downloaded files may differ slightly than as shown in samples. The LDS ideas and printables shared here are expressly my own and created by My Upside-down Umbrella. They are not created, provided, approved nor endorsed by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In this post, we will be discussing why you should have a Montessori Curriculum resources list with lesson plans, ideas and more!

Need Wonder activities for your classroom or home school Wonder teaching resources? We have Wonder lesson plans, Wonder worksheets, and more ideas for book projects, kindness activities for middle school, and diversity lessons to make a great study unit for students using both the novel by RJ Palacio and teaching with movies (including the popular precepts project!).

Students will learn about artist Norval Morrisseau as they create an x-ray painting in the Eastern Woodland Style.

From elementary school to middle school to high school, we've rounded up 41 STEM projects and activities for kids of all ages!

Here’s an easy science lesson plan about forces. Children can make a simple spinning top and use it for a forces experiment to see the effect of forces, gravity, and friction. Easy forces science lesson plan with free spinning tops printable In this simple science lesson we will use spinning tops to explore […]

Isn’t it funny how little ones are just curious about everything and totally don’t have that grossed out reaction that we have as adults? I have to admit bugs creep me out, so I was totally not excited for this week’s theme. I tried my best to contain my feelings about insects so Madelynn could […]

Check out this awesome Preschool Zoo Theme Lesson Plan! Print all 10 printable worksheets for free! Build fine motor skills!

Earlier this year, my co-worker Jayne found the idea to make a collaborative school-wide paper mural based on the artwork of Thank YouX. The idea for a student mural originally came from Jenell Novello and you can see the lesson plan write-up on Artsonia. She also so generously provided the lesson plan and templates on Google docs. Thank You X got his name by accident. In 2009 Andy Warhol’s spray painted portrait was spotted on a city street in L.A.. … Read more... →

Engaging community helper lesson plans for preschool and toddlers. Get ready-made lesson plans, activities, and ideas for this fun preschool theme!

Looking for Persuasive Writing Ideas? Teach responsibility on the swings and the playground. Swings on Strike! FUN Persuasive Writing Activity Community Building Activity Perfect for Back to School, April Fools Day, End of Year, Summer School or anytime! Designed for Elementary Grades 1-5 Pair with the read aloud of Swings on Strike! by Jennifer Jones Included: Lesson Plan Ideas Persuasive Writing Anchor Chart Letter from the Swings What is Persuasive Writing? Convincing Your Reader with a BOLD Hook Questions (how/why do we swings, etc.) Cause & Effect Graphic Organizer Opinion (Reasons) Graphic Organizer Letter Template Letter Template with Sentence Starter Signs from the Swings, 4 Versions Other Writing Activity Ideas Students are shocked to see that ALL of the swings are on strike! This is a great activity for kids to collaborate in groups and come up with reasons to get the swings back. Teach responsibility of the swings and other playground equipment. Kids can also work solo and write a letter on their own. Making writing fun for kids helps get them engaged in writing! This is a fun way to teach persuasive writing for students.

Teach kids about the story of Peter and Cornelius from Acts 10 with this fun Bible lesson for kids! Download this free printable. Perfect for Sunday School or family devotions, this lesson plan includes a fun, engaging story with activities, discussion questions, and coloring pages.

LDS Mormon Primary music visual aids and lesson plans

Here is quick list of activities for teaching goods and services to kids to add to your economics lesson plans.

FREE Printable Preschool Butterfly Shapes Worksheet! Practice shape recognition, fine motor skills, and more with this fun butterfly themed shape

Download four cute free printable April coloring pages for kids that are super cute full of smiles (perfect for those rainy days in April!).

*Since posting this this morning, I decided to add a bunch of covers...there are now 46 pages of covers to choose from!* Teacher Binders are the #1 way to start organizing for next year. EVERYONE is making one, including me. I can't print in color at school so I end up buying a lot of ink! I wanted my binder to have some color but not a lot so I can print most of it at school. I made this kit with that in mind. Most of the pages have no color on them but I've included several ideas on how to personalize and add color to your binder. Here is my cover: The entire binder is editable - just add text boxes and graphics to match your theme! I added the cute little crab to go with my ocean/beach theme from Schoolgirl Style. In the pack, there are many binder covers to choose from....here are a few: There are 12 different "pops" of color to choose from - pick one that fits your theme! These covers is almost identical, except I added a little "cloud" at the bottom so you can add more info about the binder. For a teacher binder, I might add the year down there or room number. You can also use these covers for any other binder so you could list the common core standards or the weeks of material you are covering...up to you! I've just added colorful chevron & colorful diagnal striped covers (9 colors each): The third type of cover that is included has no color. It's like my binder cover so that you have more freedom to add graphics or a lot of text. These would also be good as section dividers. This is what's included: Binder spines are included for 4 different sized binders: (the Chevron print didn't look right in the spines so I went with stripes) What binder would be complete without a calendar?! Two versions are included...a 1 page template & a 2 page monthly template. I printed the two page template for myself. The little rectangle by the month is for the year. I didn't add dates because we don't all start school at the same time. So for those people who start the year in January, they would have to wait for me to update the pack before they could print the entire school year. I always color code my calendars by using flair pens. They are amazing and every teacher I know LOVES them! I use one color for scholastic book orders, one for parent meetings, one for CSE meetings...you get the point :) Just look at all those pretty colors! This is an example of how I used one of the cover pages as a section divider. Below are cute section tabs...just add text boxes and print! To add more pops of color, print on colored paper. I attached mine with packing tape. Since I made this binder for myself first, I included my planning and assessing tools. (Sorry it's sideways) this is how I plan units. When I plan, I look through my filing cabinet and pinterest to collect my resources, that way I don't forget anything! This helps me map out my quarters. I don't do those crazy long range planning guides that some of you do (I wish I could, I just can't!) so this is my lazy-teacher version. It says subject at the top, I usually end up jotting down the big topic that needs to be covered in each subject per week. It just helps keep me on track. Finally, a cute lesson plan template. It looks crooked but it's not...the frame is not a perfect rectangle. This class list form is how I initially keep track of grades. Later, I have my classroom aide transfer their scores onto individual grade sheets. When I enter report cards, I do it per kid so this makes it easier for me. So much in my room is individualized, the kids don't all take the same assessments. Here is my individual grading sheet. Two versions are included, one with 6 subjects and one with 4 subjects. I print 4 of these per student (1 for each quarter). This may not be for you, but I like it! I track IEP goals the same way. There are 20 spots to record scores for each goal (type the goal in the long blank space). I did 20 spots so that you can assess every other week. It's helpful to see all of their scores on one page. I try to only have 3-4 goals per student so usually this page printed front and back is enough. There is also a parent contact log included. I use these colorful dividers between my sections. I keep all my positive notes home in the parent divider so they are all cut up and ready to go...this means I actually send them! The best part about this binder is that it's only $1.50 Right now it's 20% off. I'm not necessarily done with this project...if you buy it and there is something else you want included, let me know. With that being said, there is no guarantee that I can do it but I'll do my best! Click the picture below to grab yours! Of course, you will also need a binder...I had a pink binder laying around that I used but I typically like to keep all the binders white to give my room a more cohesive look. This 1 1/2 inch binder on Amazon is 77cents! (of course this price might change but it's too good of an offer not to share!) This post contains affiliate links but all opinions are my own.

Teaching Geography is one of the best Social Studies gigs to get! There are so many amazing resources for teaching the course, and fun strategies for teaching Geography are also unlimited. Follow this Quick Tips for Teaching Geography Series to learn those strategies for your classroom! Quick Tips #1: Quick Start Ideas Starting class in […]

Tracing Lines - Worksheets For Little People As your little one learns how to write, tracing lines is a great activity! And there are benefits to it too! Line tracing is one of those activities that develop your child's control of the small muscles in his/ her hands (fine motor skills). Tracing will teach your child to make the precise movements that are necessary for forming letters. Tracing improves hand/eye coordination. Line Tracing By Age Line tracing is predominantly for little ones as they learn how to write. It's therefore perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners. Your child's age and

Teach your grade 2 music class all about timbre (instrument families) with this easy low-prep package of music lesson plans & teaching materials. April's lesson plans focus on: Timbre - Strings, Woodwind, Brass, Percussion Teaching grade 2 music without any experience or training? YOU CAN DO THIS. Anyone can teach music effectively even if: You don't have any music experience You don't have any instruments, textbooks or fancy equipment You don't have time to plan elaborate lesson plans Music-By-Month is a low-frills-but-high-quality music curriculum that provides quality lessons for students and quick and easy explanations for teachers. Each Music-By-Month package includes: a 4 lesson progression (approx. 30 min in length) with EVERYTHING YOU NEED to teach the lessons effectively Clear, concise instructions Printable instructional materials in colour AND blackline A powerpoint presentation file for easy delivery of lessons Assessment suggestions All you need to deliver these lessons are: A computer with speakers the ability to print/copy sheets for students OR a smartboard/projector THAT'S IT! This package was created based on the Ontario Curriculum, but will align with most other curriculums as well. **** Click here for more "Music-By-Month" Lesson Packs **** ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - ABOUT THE AUTHOR - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Stageworthy by Widy creates performing arts lessons that help non-specialists teach the arts like rockstars. ♬ - Click here for Stageworthy music lessons ➼ - Click here for Stageworthy dance lessons ❈ - Click here for Stageworthy drama lessons ⭐⭐⭐ - Download free performing arts teaching resources here

5 reading lesson ideas for Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly. K-2 Reading Comprehension lessons, responding to literature, and a FREE FILE!

Grow a love of reading while learning through play! These hands-on garden literacy activities teach the alphabet, intial sounds, rhyming words, and more!

Looking for fun Camping Theme preschool Activities for kids? Check out these 16 Hands-On Forest and camping Learning Activities and Crafts for Preschool or Kindergarten.

Print and cut our this hand on construction paper or cardstock! Use any items you'd like to learn about different textures. I used the following: soft - piece of a cotton ball smooth - wax paper rough - sandpaper hard - button (could use pasta, bead, etc.) bumpy - drawer liner **This product is a digital download only. Activity materials are not included.**

A perfect activity for encouraging temwork in the STEM lab or a regular classroom. All you need is string and a little imagination!

Develop pre-writing and fine motor skills with this Trace the Pattern printable worksheet.

Developing empathy in children has never been more fun than with this collection of 19 simple empathy activities for kids!

I am linking up again with Teaching With Nancy's weekly linky - TGIF - Thank Goodness It's Free! Be sure to head over to her blog to pick up some more free stuff! We are finishing up our unit on plants and here are the greenhouses that we made. I have seen similar designs on Pinterest and decided to create one that we could use. Let me pause here to say - SEEDS ARE AMAZING! I forgot to buy bean seeds and remembered that I had pinto beans in my sensory bins! So I just grabbed some from the bins!!! And they grew!!! AMAZING! And did you know that you can use dry bean soup mix from the store to sprout? Here are the seeds on Day 1. And on Day 11. I love planting in plastic bags, because we are able to see all the plant parts! You can grab the Greenhouse pattern and directions below! Just click on the cover thumbnail! ***If you are having trouble accessing the file, please try using a non-work, non-school related account.***

Engage your students with some this wonderful book study to correlate with the cute book We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins.