Looking for some some FREE Set 1 BOB Books Printables? We’ve got you covered! *This post contains affiliate links. FREE Set 1 BOB Books Printables Over last couple of months, several of us have worked hard to create FREE printables to go with the Set 1 BOB Books. Today, I’m posting a round up of ... Read More about FREE Set 1 BOB Books Printables
Whether you’re trying to eliminate tons of prep time, save paper, or support ELL students in distance learning, using digital vocabulary units can be extremely helpful activities for ELL newcomers. These digital units target reading,
I'm starting to really teach and practice comprehension skills. Based on our reading assessments (TRCs) at the beginning of the year I came up with this worksheet to aide in recalling details. I had m
Help young readers practice decoding skills in reading with family friendly reading activities and games that are fun and engaging!
Back to School is right around the corner for us and I am SUPER excited to kick of this school year with some fun, hands-on and engaging resources for The
Skilled readers need to be able to master both what the words they read are and what they mean.
Retelling is a crucial skill for young readers as they begin to comprehend what they are reading. With my first graders, we have been focusi...
Are you ready to conquer DIGRAPHS? Once a child masters CVC Words it is time to move on to more complex word structures. Digraphs are a great place to
I made up a few FREE Contraction Printables for teaching contractions to ALuv {6 years old} and wanted to share them! {Find the download link at the end of this post.} *This post contains affiliate links. FREE Contraction Printables for Teaching Contractions In the free printable pack, you’ll find: 1. Contraction Concentration: The cards ... Read More about FREE Contraction Printables for Teaching Contractions
Decoding drills for building fluency helps students apply phonics skills when reading. Perfect warm ups and a great tracking tool, too.
Grab these FREE fluency passages for your kindergarten and first grade students. They are printable and low-prep! Students will love practicing decoding, comprehension, and fluency skills with these fun and engaging passages. Get 10 activities in this free download! Grab them now
Get help teaching the vowel team diphthongs oi and oy with free games anchor charts and decodable stories. Help students with spelling and reading with science of reading resources.
As you have probably noticed with your ELLs, there is quite a difference in an ELLs' conversational vocabulary compared to their academic vocabulary. According to Jim Cummins (1984), BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) refers to
Skilled readers need to be able to master both what the words they read are and what they mean.
This week, we started our new writing unit -- Looking Closely: Observing, Labeling and Listing Like Scientists. The kids love it. We have been working on looking closely at things in real life, observing things that happen in videos, and learning/writing about what we've read in books. Is it bothering you that I used "you" in 2 and "my" instead of "your" in 4? It's bothering me. We all make mistakes. Especially when we're not paying attention. :( On Monday, I showed students a video of Cheetahs playing in the snow from the Cheetah Cam at Richmond Metro Zoo. You can check it out HERE. Children observed the cheetahs closely and drew exactly what they observed. Most students labeled the picture and wrote something to teach about their subject. I like it when we all write about the same topic because then I can bind our work into a class book for the library! On Tuesday, I brought in my rock collection from when I was a little girl. When I was in first grade, my teacher had some rocks in the classroom that I was obsessed with. Because I was such a good student (or so she said), she gave me the coolest rock I thought she had ... a perfectly oval, incredibly smooth gray rock. I loved it. And it led me to collect rocks every time I saw them... actually good ones from museum shops, ones my mom and dad brought back from their travels overseas (like one from the Dead Sea and a path in Azerbaijan) and ridiculously unimportant ones I picked up on the side of the road. (Which I justified because "they were shiny.") Anyway, I brought these rocks in and passed out one to each student. The common response was "Mrs. Richardson, I like your rocks!!!!" Students got one rock each and a magnifying glass. We discussed how to draw what we saw and label interesting things we noticed. My example. If you're concerned about the spelling, please see my post on phonetic spelling. We drew, labeled and then listed some description words. After, we tried to use one of those words in a complete sentence. I meet with students who have difficulty sounding out words on their own at the reading table. For them, it's more of a shared writing exercise with me sounding out the words and them matching the sounds to their letter charts. They tell me the description words or we brainstorm some together (i.e., Is your rock hard? Is it pretty? Is it big? What color is it?) Writing Workshop isn't the only time for writing class books, though. We've done some as reading response activities in place of our Readers' Response journals. The example below was after we read Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Mo Willems's Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs. I just LOVE kindergarten writing. Young children are so creative and their capacity for writing changes so drastically in a year!
Find out the method used by teachers when they begin to teach their kids blending when learning to read. And how about words that are non-decodable?
Coding strengthens whole brain thinking. It encourages analytical thinking, problem solving, and the ability to look at a large problem and and break it down into more manageable parts in order to find the solution. Finding solutions to problems is a skill that requires creative thinking. This 52-page packet of 10 activities is a great introduction to coding beginning skills. They are designed to be hands-on and screen free, keeping students engaged and excited. No programming knowledge or experience required, and no computers required! "Superb ideas for helping me to create interesting 'unplugged' technology lesson." Included Activities: Binary Coding Chart Code Your Name (Easy, Medium, & Hard) Coding Art Project Binary Bead Bracelet Map the Pathway Code the Pathway Cards Code the Pathway Template Color Coding I Have Who Has Find the Path (We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Monster Treats) Pages: 52 Format: PDF Subjects: Computers, Technology, STEM, Reading, Art Key Concepts: Coding, Following Directions,Whole Brain Thinking, Problem Solving, Creative Thinking, Sequencing, Hands-on and Developmentally Appropriate Grades: PK-2 Materials: Templates, Coding Chart, Task Cards, I have Who Has Game, Coding Worksheets
Not sure where to begin when teaching collective nouns? This blog post contains ideas, visuals, and activities for teaching your students all about collective nouns!!
Check out these teaching materials for upper elementary students including task and reference cards on writing narrative hooks.
Practice recognizing consonant digraph with My Teaching Station printable Beginning Digraph Picture Match worksheet. In this printable activity, your child will match the correct consonant digraph with the picture.
Learn everything to make teaching the C vs K rule easy, and get a free anchor chart and multisensory worksheet to support your instruction.
Discover the essence of phonics instruction! Unravel the complexities, learn the systematic approach, and master multisensory teaching techniques. Explore the SMARTER Research-Based Instruction Framework for effective reading intervention. Dive into the science and practice of phonics with clarity a
Developing students’ writing takes practice and hard work throughout the year, and it can be difficult to transition young students’ basic writing into detailed and descriptive sentences. Teaching early writing components such as... #creativewritingcenters #creativewritingprompts #expandedsentences
Are you struggling to make content area instruction accessible to your ELLs? Here are five tips to help your ELLs be successful in your content area classroom. Any teacher that has had a beginning ELL student in
Inside you’ll find: How to help a child with dyslexia at home with a simple sight word reading exercise. Many parents want to know how to teach a dyslexic child to read. This post will begin a new series by my friend Jennifer who is a sensory parent, an adoptive parent, a homeschool parent AND [...]
Easy Reading Passages For Beginning Readers These easy, printable reading passages are perfect for beginning readers. 20 printable beginning reading worksheets PDF File Kindergarten, First Grade Read the passage, answer the questions. Please note: this is a digital file for you to print. No physical product will be sent. Kindergarten activities First Grade activities Kindergarten reading First Grade reading Reading worksheets Learn to read Kindergarten language arts First grade language arts Teach reading Reading comprehension Homeschool reading
Tips for Primary Teachers.
Sentence sticks work great to teach parts of speech: verbs, nouns, adjectives etc. Use it to make silly sentences or real sentences too!
As an ESL teacher, I often hear from classroom teachers that they don't always know where to start when it comes to working with beginning English language learners (ELLs), or newcomers, in small group instruction. In this post I'll share a typical "guided reading" lesson that I would give to my beginning ELLs, as well as a glance of at what a typical week would look like. Let me start by saying, the very first thing I do before I start instructing my newcomers is, I assess what they already know. First, I see if they have literacy skills in their native language...can they read and write? Then, I see if they know alphabet letter names and sounds. Next, I assess their reading level. Since they don't have English literacy skills yet, their reading level typically starts at level "A" (emergent). I can say that most students do have some literacy skills in their home language, and often times, many know some letter names and sounds. So now I've got my starting point! When I first begin working with my newcomers, the main components of reading that I typically focus on are building vocabulary, phonological awareness/phonics and sight words. So a typical week would encompass all three of these skills. Down the road I add comprehension skills, but they are not ready for that yet. Step 1 - Choose an appropriate book. I carefully select books that have relevant vocabulary. For the most part, my main focus is to build their vocabulary. The literacy skills in their native language will transfer to their new language, however, they have an extremely limited vocabulary, so... vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary! I chose this book because I wanted to teach my students the word "big." It's also about animals, and I know that most kids are interested in reading about animals! I used gestures to SHOW them what "big" means. It's important to be mindful of your students' age when picking out books. You don't want to give 4th-6th graders books about bunnies or teddy bears. Try picking age appropriate books; which I know can be a challenge if the selection is limited, but you don't want your students feeling embarrassed. Step 2 - Preview the book. Point to and say each animal's name and have the students repeat the names back to you, keeping in mind to speak clearly and to enunciate the sounds in each word. It's important for them to hear how to pronounce the names. A side thought...Think about "A" level books... they are not created with English language learners in mind. "A" level books have repeated sentences, which are GREAT, but they also have very specific vocabulary that students are expected to decode using picture cues. In the book my students read last week, the repeated sentence was, "We go to the _____." The pictures show the family in different locations like the pool, park, library, soccer game, etc. In one picture the family is standing in front of a large fish tank. If I asked English only students where the family is, some might say a fish store or they might even guess aquarium, depending on their background knowledge. Then they'd cross check their thinking with the word and see that it begins with the letter "a" and hopefully they'd say, "It's an aquarium!" But our newcomers don't know what a big fish tank place is called in English, so it's important for us to support our students by saying the names of each vocabulary word. Step 3 - Choral reading! Newcomers feel more comfortable in a choral reading setting. They need help pronouncing the words. They need to hear YOU pronounce the words. Choral reading helps to keep anxiety levels low. (In a few weeks, the choral reading decreases and I will start focusing on decoding.) Step 4 - After reading, review the animal names. Point to an animal and see if they can remember the name. Perhaps make a matching activity with animal pictures and names. Support as needed. Encourage a LOT! Step 5 - I always provide a guided writing activity based off of the book we just read. I use sentence frames to support their thinking and writing. Sometimes I create my own, like the picture below, and other times I'll use a graphic organizer as a follow up activity. On this day I wanted them to understand the meaning of "big," so their writing supported this goal. As they finish their writing activity, I'll ask each student to read some of their writing to me. Then they'll draw a quick picture, which I always ask them to label. I know that my newcomers don't understand every word in the book, and that's OK! They are being exposed to new words and ideas in a repeating format. I want them to get used to the structure of our lessons so that they know what's expected. So, here is what a typical week of small group work entails for my newcomers. Knowing what the focus is each day helps me to zone in on their learning goals. The variety keeps it fun and interesting, yet it's consistent so they know what's expected. As you can see, on Tuesdays I include direct vocabulary instruction, either using the vocabulary from the book, like the animals, monthly themed vocabulary, or content area vocabulary. October Themed Vocabulary (along with sight words and phonics review) One vocabulary activity I have my students do is called the K.I.M. Strategy. In their notebook they write the key word (K), important information (I), sketch a memory clue (M) and write a sentence (S). For my newcomers, I leave out the (I) portion. They are not ready for adding "information." Right now the goal is for them to learn the names of things and simple sentence structure. My higher ELLS definitely include all components of the K.I.M. Strategy in their notebooks. This is what the K.I.M. Strategy looks like. And this is how it looks modified for my newcomers... On Thursdays, I focus on building sight words. When teaching sight words, it's important to teach them in context. Your beginning ELs need context in order to make meaning of the words. I pull a sight word from our books and I include an extension activity with that word. (A link to this resource is provided at the bottom of this post.) I do teach sight words throughout the week, but on Thursdays we always have an extension activity for one of them. As an "exit ticket" I have them orally use the sight word. Today, I asked each student, "What can you do?" And they responded with "I can _____." Then they get a high five, a sticker (big kids like stickers too!), or some encouraging praise. I also include Word Study activities in my small group work. I like using the sorts from Words Their Way. Each Monday they receive a new spelling pattern. Remember, I assessed my students to see what they already knew. Most already knew initial sounds, so I started them with word families. If they did not know initial sounds, I would've started there. I do have one student in this group who does not know many initials sounds, so I spend a little extra focus with him on initial sounds. This resource is from "Words Their Way." My newcomers use this activity to learn spelling patterns AND vocabulary. They are introduced to their new word list on Mondays, then they have independent activities to do with their word list throughout the week in their gen ed classrooms. (It's so important to set newcomers up with meaningful activities that they can work on independently during Reader's Workshop.) Below is their Word Study Activities list. It gets glued into their Reading Notebook. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays they work on their independent activities. Friday is Word Study Quiz day! FREEBIE - Click Here And that's what small group instruction looks like with my newcomers. To recap, assess what students can do to evaluate your starting point. Focus on building vocabulary, sight words in context, word spelling patterns and choral reading to start. My guided reading lessons usually looks like... preview the book, front load main vocabulary, choral read, and end with a guided writing activity with sentence frames. Here's a TIP: Many times I make my own guided writing activity based on what I want the students to learn from the book. I'll write the activity in my notebook, make copies, cut them to size, then have students glue it into their notebook. Keep this notebook! You may get a newcomer next year, and when you do, many of your guided writing activities will already be made. You'll just need to find the book that goes with the activity. My notebook where I write out the guided writing activities. I know that many school districts lack ESL resources and often times the classroom teacher is the only one providing instruction. Knowing where to start with beginning English learners is probably the biggest challenge. I hope that this post gives you some ideas about where to start and what to focus on with your new students. To read more about the K.I.M. Strategy, click here. Affiliate links below for Sight Words and Word Study.
Are you ready for the month of March? We are all geared up for some fun learning this month! Our March NO PREP packets are done and we are ready to go!
The start to the school year for newcomer ELLs can be overwhelming and nerve-wracking. It is our job to set them up with tools to help them feel comfortable exploring a new language in a
I decided that before I can start posting about what I'm doing this year, I needed to share some of my favorite strategies from last year ...
This free beginning sounds chart is a great resource for making rhyming words or spelling word families. Includes 55 different beginning sounds!
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)
Learning German may seem like a difficult task. Especially when it comes to the nature of the German language. The good news is that's just a false presumption. Every language can be learned if you know the right technique and the right information. It is proven that the easiest way to learn a language is to hear it in action. Hearing a natural german conversation is the best thing you can do, it's like listening to a story. Natural is the keyword in that sentence. A natural approach to learning the language is the fastest and simplest approach to do it. Why do you think you hear people learning a language extremely fast when they move to another country? Because they hear it naturally, every day. Learn German with stories .Maybe the easiest language learning system ever created. How does that sound to you? People listen to other people's stories.The human mind is programmed to like stories because that's what our life is. A story. And because of this very reason, I've crafted stories that will easily cut you months of struggling to learn German. There will no longer be a \"struggle\". Moving to Germany just to learn German is not a solution .That's why my book \"brings\" Germany to you. It brings stories to you. Learning German with my stories will grab your mind into believing that you will actually \"live\" into German conversations. When you're reading a story, you feel like you're there. The same concept applies to learning German with stories.About my learning German with stories book It contains 150 short stories about everyday situationsEvery story is followed by questions and key vocabularyThe more you read, the easier your brain will automatically get used to the German language ( isn't that easily beautiful? )It includes more than 900 digital flashcards for those not able to understand the book completely from the beginningIt uses psychologically inserted KEY PATTERNS to make your brain automatically easily learn sentences and words (this is key)The book uses a read-word-repeat writing system along the stories for natural, fluid learning ( heavy repetition = higher retention rate )The Benefits of using my book: Easily learn German with storiesFeel at ease when reading & learning with the flow of the storiesNo struggle forcing to learn words/phrasesLearn at your own paceFeel confident in your German language skills after a few weeks ONLYOnce you learn, you NEVER forgetLearn German with my stories ( the easy way )
Back to School is right around the corner for us and I am SUPER excited to kick of this school year with some fun, hands-on and engaging resources for The
