Set yourself a measurable goal and work towards Japanese language proficiency with the JLPT Study Guide as one of your resources.
Thousands of resources for both students and teachers of second languages, from basic vocabulary and grammar guides to advanced writing and conversation exercises.
Mastering the Japanese language is an enriching journey, and for beginners, the JLPT N5 certification is a crucial milestone. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll delve into the significance of…
Looking for a differentiated resource to teach your students how to identify prepositions in a sentence? This set of preposition task cards is guaranteed to keep your students engaged as they master this grammar standard. I invite you to take a look at the preview and see what other teachers have to say! *********************************** PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: ♥ 3 Sets of Differentiated Task Cards ♥ 3 Answer Keys ♥ Student Recording Sheet...perfect for literacy groups or even a Scoot Game ♥ Directions for playing Scoot ♥ 3 Recording Cards for Literacy Groups or Kagan Structures *********************************** SUGGESTIONS FOR USING: ♥ Literacy Groups ♥ RTI ♥ Whole Group Instruction ♥ ELL/ESL ♥ Fast Finisher Activity ♥ Word Work Center ♥ Daily 5 Work on Words ♥ Inside Recess Activity ♥ Test Prep *********************************** TERMS OF USE: ©Kelly Avery & Mrs. Avery’s Island. All rights reserved. Purchase of this product entitles the purchaser to reproduce the pages for ONE CLASSROOM ONLY. Duplicates for more than one classroom such as another teacher, grade level, school or district is strictly forbidden without written permission from the author, Kelly Avery. Copying any part of this product and placing it on the Internet in any form is strictly forbidden and is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). You may show how this product was used on your website or blog as long as you provide a link back to my TPT store. Thank you in advance for respecting my time, effort, and money used to make this resource possible. *********************************** HERE'S HOW YOU CAN SAVE MONEY: If you are interested in saving money on your future TPT purchases, please leave me some feedback on this product after you have had a chance to look it over or use it with your students. Did you know that when you leave feedback on your products you earn TPT credits? Many people are not aware of this TPT perk, so I wanted to share it with you! After you rate the resource and leave feedback, you earn a TPT credit. These credits accumulate and can be redeemed on your future TPT purchases!! Not to mention, your feedback provides other teachers valuable information when they are deciding on purchasing a resource! So please share your love and any details if you used this resource in a different/creative way! ********************************* I ♥ followers! I would love to offer you discounts and free products…. Not to mention, you will be the first to know about new products when they are launched. To do this, simply click the words that say "Follow Me" at the top of my page! HERE'S HOW YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook My Blog Instagram Pinterest Google+ Twitter Bloglovin' OTHER PRODUCTS OF INTEREST MIGHT INCLUDE: Parts of Speech Anchor Charts Grammar Task Card Bundle Set 1 Figurative Language: Similes, Metaphors, Alliteration, Idioms, and More Weather Themed Differentiated Adverb Task Cards Figurative Language and Poetry Activities Year Long Writing Prompts Bundle ☺Thank you so much for visiting my store today!☺ Kelly Avery
Want your students to have rich, complex conversations about the texts they read? This method leads to the kinds of classroom discussions you thought only happened in college.
Speaking is important when learning a language, but speaking is pretty much 50% listening. So listening is just as important! Here's all the language learning listening resources you'll ever need.
AUTHENTIC RESOURCES, in the context of reading and listening, are a powerful addition to our foreign language classes, providing our students a window into real life language use, language that, according to the popular definition, is created by natives for natives. In reference to this post, I want to thank fellow Spanish teacher, Charlcie Swadley, with whom I had a very inspiring conversation the other day about this topic- she really helped me crystallize my thoughts! FOR NOVICE LEARNERS, the challenge is in finding resources that match their level, without being so difficult they cannot access them. I've created an infographic with FOUR questions I ask myself when vetting an authentic resource- next week I'll add some great examples for elementary and novice classrooms! LET ME LAY THEM OUT in a bit more detail here: 1) WHAT IS THE RATIO of known to unknown vocabulary/structure? We have all been there, as students and as lifelong learners- we encounter that text or movie or song that makes little sense to us. We can pick out a few words along the way, but the larger whole escapes us. Does choosing a resource like this help our students? Or would a resource that is very comprehensible and accessible be the better choice? I think you know my answer! I look for resources that have typically a 80/20 ratio of known to unknown content, utilizing the CI +1 hypothesis. Providing just enough new content within a larger frame of previously learnt vocabulary/structure means students can actually utilize what they already know to access and acquire the new information. When there is too much new content, students go on overload and they can't make sense of what they are encountering. 2) DOES IT FIT INTO YOUR THEME or topic? I teach thematically so I am very partial to this one... content that is connected intellectually has been proven to be more effective for students in terms of acquisition (Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct); it triggers more deeply held knowledge about the theme at hand, and, since you are most likely spending more than one or two lessons on the theme, you can integrate the learning from the authentic resource over and over again, recycling as you go. We all know repetition is the name of the game in language learning! 3) IS IT IN CONTEXT? Related to the above, authentic resources provided in context give students a greater frame to interact with. Isolated bits don't allow for a connection to be built, have little relevancy, and make it difficult for students to synthesize how to use what they are learning in a real world situation. I give the example of idioms- providing a list of idioms to translate, even with an explanation of how to use them, is far less effective than integrating a relevant idiom into your daily routine or interaction. Another example is cooking vocabulary- far better presented in a recipe than in a list format. Even better when you have your students participate in the preparation of the recipe while using the vocabulary they are learning! 4) DOES IT PROVIDE 'SUCCESSFUL MOMENTS' for your students? Authentic resources can be intimidating to some students; they hold the belief that their language is insufficient to the task. However, when a student interacts with an authentic resource successfully, even if it is a very basic one, they gain motivation and interest to interact with them in the future. Celebrate those successes, call attention to the amazing progress your students are making, and keep moving forward! NEXT WEEK ON TUESDAY TIPS I will share some examples (and types) of good authentic resources for elementary and novice classrooms- be sure not to miss it! You can follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter to stay up to date!
Use this mini English-to-German and German-to-English dictionary as a resource while you learn German.
Howdy! Jen Bradshaw here from TeacherKarma.com. Synonyms are SWEET! While we are diligently focusing on comprehension instruction, sometimes we need to take a step back... and decide how we can help our kiddos move forward with their reading comprehension progress. Vocabulary! Vocabulary! Vocabulary! Our students need to be able to have a "better than good" grasp on vocabulary before they can deeply comprehend the text they are reading. Good vocabulary knowledge = good comprehension!! I have a few FREE vocabulary resources for you today. To get your FREE resources and read more about vocabulary strategies, please click here.
Many teachers have "tried and true" resources that they pull from year after year. I've been an elementary ESL teacher since 2005 working with grades 1-6. During this time I have used a ton of resources with my students; and my favorites have stuck with me. Even though my "classroom" can change year to year, from pushing-in, co-teaching, to predominantly working with small pull-out groups, these tried and true resources are ones that I wouldn't want to do without. Here's a look at a few of my top favorites... Graphic Organizers This resource is #1 for a reason! I almost always use graphic organizers to teach reading comprehension. I find them to be highly effective because they are not text heavy. Students read with a purpose, then complete an activity that supports that specific reading skill/strategy. No matter my students' level of reading or language proficiency, a simple graphic organizer is what I need to reinforce that skill or strategy! I keep these graphic organizers on my desktop, and when I'm planning my lessons I can quickly pull up the organizers I need, then print and go! Tip: When I print, I reduce the setting to 80% and then trim the sides. Students glue the graphic organizer into their reading notebooks which makes for a great collection of student work and visual reference of student progress and effort. Leveled Books for Reading Instruction I have been very lucky to work in schools that have had awesome book rooms full of guided reading sets. I hope that you have the same access to books in your school. Finding books on my students' levels is one thing, but finding relevant books, especially for my upper elementary beginning ELs, is another. It's a challenge, for sure, but with a good book room I know that I can almost always find what I need. Click here for a free modified guided reading lesson plan template! Don't have a stocked book room? I also order several grade levels of the Scholastic News Magazines. (I think 10 magazines per grade level is the minimum order; that's what I get.) I mostly use grades 1, 2 & 3 with my ELs. With your order, you also have access to the online magazines, which is awesome! You can project to an interactive whiteboard, or have students read on an iPad or computer. These various grade levels make it easy to differentiate text levels. Since I use the magazines for reading instruction, students do not take them home. I keep the magazines organized by grade level and time of year, then I reuse the ones I love, year after year. Reading instruction is a big part of my day, so having access to leveled reading materials is a must! Visual Reading Word Wall Cards I love this resource because of the visuals. and the versatility. When introducing a reading concept, such as "making predictions" or "plot," to beginning or intermediate English learners, a meaningful visual is definitely worth a thousand words! These reading word wall cards provide my students with the visual supports they need as they are learning new concepts in English. I use these cards at my reading table, as a word wall, in anchor charts, as sorting headers, and in my learning objectives that I post on the board. Guided Reading Table Anchor Chart Lesson Objectives Words Their Way for Word Study For ELLs, learning spelling patterns in English is important. I especially like this resource because I can differentiate it according to the needs of my students. First, I assess what my students already know, as far as consonants, short and long vowels, word families, digraphs, etc., then start from there. We systematically work through the sorts building their knowledge of sounds and spelling patterns. A bonus with this resource is that it's another exposure to new vocabulary! Each Monday my students receive their list of words, and each day of the week they have various independent activities to do with their words. Then on Fridays, we finish up with a quick spelling quiz. Click for a free download of Weekly Word Study Activities To start, I set up their notebooks with their weekly Word Study Activities. We do this together the first week or two, so that I know that they understand what's expected. This is a word sort that my newcomers might be working on. And this is a sort that my intermediate ELLs might be working on. After I copy the page, I'll cut the page so that they have about 15 new words per week. My advanced ELLs might have 18 to 20 words. Once my students understand their weekly activities, these Word Study Activities become independent activities during the week while in Reader's Workshop. Students are responsible for completing the weekly work and learning their words. I set them up on Monday with their new words, then quiz them on Friday. It's up to them to do the work Tuesday through Thursday. Vocabulary Mini Office This is a MUST have for my newcomers! When they arrive, this is the first resource I give them. It's basic vocabulary that students use everyday. The Vocabulary Mini Office is kept at their desk to use during independent work time. Whether during Writer's Workshop, Reading or Vocabulary practice, it provides them with access to everyday vocabulary. My newcomers love this resource and they use it often. For my older newcomers I put the pages inside their reading folder. When they practice their writing, they can easily find the vocabulary they need. Daily Language Review I often use this resource as a warm-up activity. With my beginner and intermediate students, this is a group activity we do together. I want them to get used to the format of the questions so I do a lot of guided practice and modeling with this resource. My advanced kiddos do this as a quick independent warm up and then we go over it together. It takes about 5 minutes. Depending on the language level of my groups, I pull pages from either the first, second or third grade book. It also provides a great jumping off point. I can see in which areas of grammar my students need direct instruction, such as contractions, sentence structure, mechanics, etc. It's just a quick warm-up. My students like it and I get good information about them from it. As a teacher of English Language Learners, these are some of my must have resources. When I plan my lessons, these are many of the first resources I grab. They make my instruction consistent, effective and meaningful. Yes, there are other resources that I would not want to do without, and perhaps that would make for a follow up post, but if I were to pick my top resources, these would be them! I'd love to know what some of your favorite resources are! (Affiliate Links Below)
Here are must-have books for ESL teachers that you'll keep coming back to, regularly use as a quick reference, and provide information, knowledge, and value.
How to get started journaling in another language - three steps to get started. Multilingual diaries can be a great way to learn words in another language.
Do you find it difficult to know which auxiliary to use when conjugating in French passé composé 🤯? Is it AVOIR or is it ÊTRE 🤔?? ➡️ Find the answer here!
Deutsche Redewendungen mit Bildern - ein alter Hase sein - Wortschatz lernen mit Bildern, Beispielsätzen, Wortschatzerklärungen.
A scavenger hunt with is a fun and engaging way to help English Language Learners. They are a great way to help students learn new vocabulary.
Hangeul cards 1-100
Welcome back! This is the third installment for Teaching your kids a foreign language. A while back, we
5 simple rules that make it easier for you to understand the "logic" of German language and make learning German easier.
This Japanese Verb Tense Cheat Sheet summarizes everything you need to know to understand how Japanese verbs are conjugated, as well as when and how to use the most useful and important verb tenses and forms.
A bilingual homeschooling plan from a family who homeschool in Spanish and English with resources to help you with your own bilingual homeschool
Nothing cements long-term learning as powerfully as retrieval practice. Learn how to incorporate it into your classroom.
Learning German? Find out how you can easily avoid the most common German mistakes with these super simple fixes in under 10 minutes!
ONE OF THE CHALLENGES I OFTEN HEAR FROM TEACHERS STRIVING FOR 90% IN THE TARGET LANGUAGE, as per ACTFL'S recommendation, is how to make vocabulary more comprehensible for students, especially NOVICE learners. Over the last few years, I've been creating a series of posts and tips in visual form to spark ideas and hopefully help in this process. I've collected many on my Pinterest board here and you can click on my blog category 'Teaching 90% in the Target Language" to see all of my posts. I thought it might also be helpful to create a bulleted list of the prime strategies as a quick reference guide, which you can see below! Underneath, I've expanded on some of them to give a fuller explanation. I've also listed a series of sites and apps I use to help me make visuals at the bottom- hope they are of help, and if you know of others, please share! *VISUALS: As an illustrator myself, I am definitely convinced that visuals, whether they be pictures, photos, or physical props, are a strong support in helping get meaning across. I do think some visuals are better than others- as a very simple example: if the word is 'five' but the visual only shows ONE thing, that can be confusing to a language learner. In my opinion, a visual should clearly ILLUSTRATE (in other words, represent visually the word or concept) the meaning. I wrote a post which expands on this-you can read it here :) *GESTURES: We use a lot of familiar gestures in our day to day communication; utilizing those help get the meaning across without translating. Pointing, cupping your ear, using two fingers to point to your eyes, clapping, thumbs up, ok sign, rubbing your belly, tapping the side of your forehead, holding up your hand for 'stop', putting a finger to your lips, making a heart with your two hands, etc are all familiar gestures we use in the US. Signs from Sign language can also be a great option, especially for us elementary teachers who work in schools where the homeroom teachers use them too. One of my all time favorites is this below: *DEMONSTRATE: I am a huge fan of demonstrating activities! By walking through an activity, even in an abbreviated fashion, provides our students with the overview of what is expected and how the activity is going to go. Some instances where I frequently use demonstrating: using our classroom materials, how to move about the classroom, clean up routine, games, partner activities, crafts, etc. A new strategy I am employing is creating videos of these demonstrations to show students when introducing games and other activities-this has been a great success! *ACT IT OUT: Many words and situations lend themselves to being acted out- be creative! A prime example that almost stumped me last year: my classroom rug was being cleaned, so was out in the hallway. Using a piece of soap, I mimed cleaning it so my students could understand why it was out there and not in my room :) *SIMPLIFY: Pare down what you want to say to the essential message. I think we, as teachers, unintentionally often add in more language than is really needed in the situation, making it more complicated for our students to comprehend. A perfect example I've shared many times before: *COGNATES: Cognates are interesting because they are often more obvious to adults (the teacher) than to our students. And for pre-literate & early literacy students, even more so. I do not rely on utilizing cognates as a verbal strategy-my students rarely 'hear' the similarity. Rather, I write the cognate on the board, and cover a portion of the word to "reveal" the English. *OPPOSITES: Our brains naturally categorize concepts such as opposites...leverage this process for all kinds of vocabulary! *BREAK IT UP: This is another particular favorite of mine, in part because it also supports our students who have challenges with processing, recall, and following multistep instructions or activities. Instead of delivering a series of instructions and/or information in one go, break them up into steps and deliver each step one at a time, pausing after each (and/or making that chunk comprehensible) before moving on to the next. I wrote a post on how to break up instructions this way here :) *LEVERAGE KNOWN SCHEMA: Even little children are already familiar with a host of mental schema related to all kinds of things-when we leverage these, we allow the context to do a lot of the work for us. For example, most biographies contain predictable information: name, date of birth, location of birth and/or where he/she lived, their profession, etc. If you present this information in connection with a famous person, your students will be much quicker to intuit what you are talking about because they have a prior schema in their heads for this type of scenario. Non fiction is a bonanza for this! This also applies to all kinds of other things- known gestures, daily routines & activities, customs, images, etc. If I point to your shoelaces which are untied, and say in the target language 'tie your shoes', it is HIGHLY likely my kiddo will know what I am talking about because it's such a familiar context- there is no need for me to use English in this situation. If I show a heart next to a strawberry and put a big smile on my face, my kids automatically know I love strawberries! *SPEECH & THINKING BUBBLES: I LOVE speech & thinking bubbles! One of the most effective ways I present the first person singular is through these visual supports. Like above, these are known schema-kids automatically know what they are for, so I don't have to explain this. I can then have the bubbles over their head, my head, a character's head, a classmate's head.... by moving the bubbles I can then reference what someone else is saying etc- and we all know that what's in the bubble is in first person. There are many other strategies that work as well; I tried to take some of my most potent ones to share in this post. If you have others, please share in the comments! SITES to help you create visuals for your classroom: *Piktochart *Canva *Powtoon *Picmonkey
Learning German? Find out how you can easily avoid the most common German mistakes with these super simple fixes in under 10 minutes!
Corkboard Connections is a blog written by Laura Candler who enjoys connecting terrific teachers with amazing resources!
In this article, I break down Japanese sentence structure and show you exactly how Japanese sentences work. A solid understanding of this will save you a huge amount of time trying to make sense of Japanese grammar.
Learning German? Find out how you can easily avoid the most common German mistakes with these super simple fixes in under 10 minutes!
How to plan ESL lessons 300% faster with this easy trick! Download these 3 free teacher to teacher lesson plans.
