Looking for esl task cards to use with your english language learners? Try these picture cards that are perfect for quick and effective language practice!
Tips for working with english language learners and how to best support ELLs them in your classroom!
What are language functions? LFs are the "reasons" we use language; it's our purpose, or goal, when we express ourselves. Perhaps we want to express our needs or wants, explain a process, describe an experience, or persuade someone to do something. Whatever the purpose, we use language to perform these functions. Examples of Language Functions: -express wants/needs -sequence -compare/contrast -opinion -persuade -inform -describe -analyze -cause/effect -summarize -ask questions Students use language functions in every grade level and across all content areas, so what better way to set English learners up for success than by explicitly teaching the academic language needed to successfully use language functions. Here is how this looks in my ESOL classroom. Planning I like to plan certain LF units during specific times of year. For example, Compare/Contrast is fun in the fall due to apples and pumpkins. Cause/Effect is great in the winter because I like to use the topic of seasonal changes on plants and animals. Opinion/Persuade is great in the spring because I use the topic of plastic pollution, which ties into Earth Day. I sprinkle other LF units throughout the year, but those three I pretty much keep at the same time each year. You could teach any LF at any time of the year; it's very flexible. Each unit, in my classroom, lasts about 3-4 weeks, but again, it's flexible. Which language functions will my students need in order to be successful with the grade level content? When I sit down to plan a unit, I brainstorm science and social studies topics that my students will be learning about during year, then I pick the LF and topic I want to focus on. When we connect LF units with the content our students are, or will be, learning in their general education classrooms, it gives students the language tools and confidence they need to participate and succeed. Language Functions Planning Process This is the tool I use to plan out my language function units. It helps me map out the BIG picture first, then hone in on the details. The main components of my planning are: 1- identify the language function 2- identify content areas topics 3- create learning targets 4- locate activities to support the four language domains 5- determine the scaffolds needed Learning Targets I like to backwards plan by first identifying what I want my students to be able to do by the end of each LF unit. This becomes the learning target(s) for the unit. I have targets for both expressive (speaking and writing) and interpretive (listening and reading) language. A focus on the verb is important because it's what we want students to do, for example: identify, use, label, illustrate, explain, etc. The learning targets are then posted and referenced throughout each unit. Activities Once I've identified the learning targets, I start collecting activities and resources at various proficiency levels to practice viewing, listening, reading, speaking and writing skills. I also think about how I'll build background knowledge for the topic. I love to incorporate videos, so YouTube, BrainPOP Jr. and EPIC Books are places I typically go to first for engaging video resources. Building background knowledge using a short video is highly effective, IMO. It's an engaging way to get students talking about what they already know or think about a topic. This planning phase is all about finding materials that will help facilitate the language function. Since I work with a wide variety of proficiency and grade levels, I need a variety of resources. Here are some of my favorites for the 4 language domains. Listening I primarily use videos for this domain. I tell my students what to listen for and will stop the video in designated places to give them time to process and respond. Again, my top 3 places to find videos in order of preference are YouTube, BrainPOP Jr (paid subscription) and EPIC Books. EPIC has some really great videos, and it's a free resource! ReadWorks.org is another great site. The reading passages there have an audio component, so it's not a video, but it's an article read aloud. You could create your own questions for the article, but comprehension question are already provided for each passage. Nice! Reading For reading materials I look through my school's bookroom first. Then I check out Reading A-Z (a subscription my school pays for), Readworks.org, EPIC books (both are free), another online subscription resource from Benchmark Education, and lastly my own collection of books. Reading Materials for Cause and Effect The picture above shows some of the reading materials I gathered for my cause and effect unit. I searched for resources that demonstrated how changes in climate or weather impact plants and animals. Reading Materials for Opinion/Persuade As you can see, I'm a "spreader outer." By spreading out all of my resources during this planning phase, I can quickly see what I have and what I still need. Speaking I want my students talking everyday, so we do a variety of speaking activities in my ELD groups. This is probably the number one reason why I love the pull-out model of instruction, but that's a blog post for another day. Some activities I use are talking mats, games, class discussions, partner talks and simply sharing our thinking. Oral language is the foundation of language and literacy so I'm intentional about providing structured (and unstructured) opportunities for students to use oral language each time we meet. Talking Mat Activity for Cause and Effect Students chose the cards they wanted to talk about, then used the sentence frame as needed. One of my favorite speaking activities is having students record a Flipgrid video. They always moan about it at first, but then they get into it and enjoy watching and responding to their classmates' videos. It's also a great way to measure progress. You have recorded examples of your students speaking throughout the year! I like to jot down notes while I listen (and re-listen) to their recordings. This helps me target certain areas that my students need additional practice with, then I create or find mini-lessons for those skills. Writing Writing is integrated with listening and reading activities. Students generally have something to respond to each time we meet. (They usually write inside their ELD notebooks.) Similar to speaking, I'll have students writing at each meeting, even if it's a short task. I frequently use graphic organizers for writing responses. I like to reduce the size of the graphic organizer to about 75% and trim the edges, then I'll have students glue it into their notebooks. Opinion Writing At the end of each LF unit, there is a written or oral language component, sometimes both. It's an assessment to demonstrate their ability of applying the language function. Usually it's a prompt written in their ELD notebooks, but it could also be a digital activity. This past spring, at the end of our Opinion/Persuade unit, students had the choice to either create and present a PowerPoint presentation, record a Flipgrid video, or create and present a poster. Google Jamboard is another platform I frequently use for their end of unit writing task. Scaffolds Let's talk scaffolding for a moment. This is where we consider the specific language needs of our students and the appropriate supports for them. Scaffolds will vary from group to group. Some groups/students will need sentence frames, while others may only need sentence stems. Some groups will need more modeling than others. Some will need more visuals. Some will need extra opportunities to practice. Some might need L1 support. All will need explicit vocabulary instruction. We want to challenge our students without frustrating them, so picking appropriate scaffolding is key. Language Function Unit in Action For each unit, I display a "language board." It's a jumping off point and a reference tool that provides what the language function is, gives an example, along with key words. Next, I build some background knowledge so that students can connect to the reason we use the LF. It could be as simple as asking, "What do you already know about..." Then we dive into the plans and activities for listening, reading, speaking and writing skills. They spend the next 10-15 days practicing and using the language for the language function. Language Function Board for Opinion & Persuade Introductory Lesson for Opinion/Persuade Model OREO Opinion Writing Opinion Lesson - real life example to connect students' experiences with learning target Reading Activity- Will students' opinions about plastic bags change? Intermediate ELD group- students gave their opinion about plastic bags prior to reading. In Closing The best part about incorporating language function units into my ESL classroom is that ALL of my ELD groups are learning the same language function. This makes planning so much more manageable. Instead of planning 10 different lessons for ten different groups, all of my groups are learning the language of persuade at their language level. I love it! And more importantly, my students love it too! These units are fun, engaging, flexible and highly effective at building academic language. Do you teach language functions? If so, do you have a favorite? If not, do you want to? Here are links to some of my Language Function resources. Happy LF Teaching,
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
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What is Oral Language? Oral Language skills are an important component of language development. It is made up of at least five key components (Moats 2010) including phonological skills, pragmatics, syntax, morphological skills, and vocabulary. Students need opportunities throughout the day to practice their speaking and listening skills. For English Language Learners this is particularly important
Click here for methods of teaching writing skills for different styles.
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
Photographs offer excellent support for English Language Learners to write about. They can help students generate ideas, and visual vocabulary support is built into a high-quality photograph. You can easily differentiate a writing assignment based on photographs. All students use the same picture, but the amount of writing, level of support offered, and complexity of
10 fun and educational ESL activities for busy teachers! Try these games and activities in your classroom (or virtual classroom) today!
An ESL teacher has a unique job in that s/he has to fulfill a great variety of roles on a daily basis. The four main ones are described in this article.
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
Using games is the best way to teach, review and practice vocabulary with ESL learners. I've found that playing simple games with my students provides amazing vocabulary retention. The best part is that your students will have a great time while playing! Any teacher can tell you that worksheets and monotonous repetitions of vocabulary in
Learn some ideas for supporting IEP and ESL students in the middle school classroom.
Multilingual Learners typically spend the majority of their day in a mainstream classroom. This is especially true for elementary age students. English Language Learns (ELLs) receive either pull out support from an ESOL teacher or co-teaching support. Some MLs do not receive any support other than from their classroom teacher. A quick way to think
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
Vocabulary folders are a convenient way to organize vocabulary pages. I used illustrated vocabulary sheets to help my English Language Learners speak and write about new vocabulary. They are also helpful for younger students with spelling. Some primary classroom teachers I supported had a set of these folders on student tables or in a writing
Using subject pronouns is key to forming sentences and making the English language flow naturally. This is why one of the absolute first ESL grammar skills that newcomers need to learn is subject pronouns. However, teaching
Download these free picture mats to build vocabulary in preschool and kindergarten. These are great for English language learners, too! #vocabulary
Is Your Classroom ELL-Friendly? Deb Hanson shares 8 practical strategies you can implement right away to ensure that your classroom supports English Language Learners.
District specialist Valentina Gonzalez says English learners need "massive opportunities" to use academic language in class. She shares 10 teaching techniques.
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Tips to Help Your English Language Learners If you have English language learners in your classroom you already know that teaching reading for this group can be a challenge. Many teachers simply have not had much exposure to the kinds of strategies that can help these kids learn. Just like all other students teachers serve, English language learners have varying abilities and reading levels. What makes it complicated is when students arrive with no language skills other than maybe knowing the words hello and my name is.... Because of this challenge to the homeroom teachers in my building, I created this free resource as a kind of guide to help direct their instruction. I hope it is a help to all the teachers who feel they are helpless with the immigrant students. They need advocates and we, the teachers, are the ones to do it. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Five-Stages-of-Language-Acquisition-Made-Easy-2402804
Do you set academic goals with your students? What about language goals for your English learners? I compare goal setting with creating a road map. We are at point A and need to get to Point B. So, we identify and target an area of need, then systematically work towards improving that area, tracking progress along the way. For students, this "road map" provides purpose. They know WHAT they need to do AND identify specific steps for getting there. Let's look at how setting specific language goals can help get ELs to the next level in their language acquisition journey. Where to Begin Before we start setting goals, we need to know our students. What are their current levels in each language domain? I work in a state that uses the WIDA ACCESS to annually assess language proficiency with English learners. At the end of the school year I receive a report that lists each student's scores in the four language domains: listening, reading, speaking and writing. So, the first step I take in setting goals is to analyze my students' score reports. If your state uses a different assessment, then you’d use your own state/district scores. I then make a list of all of my students current scores in each domain, as well as, their scores from the previous year, if available. I can then see trends, areas of weakness and domains that need additional attention. These will be the areas to target. It is good practice to also conduct your own assessments, such as a writing prompt, reading assessment, oral interview and listening skills activities. Once you have a good idea of where your students are currently, and what they CAN DO, the next step is to determine where they need to be by a given time. My timeline is generally the end of the school year, and I typically set goals to improve one whole level up in a given domain. For example, if a student is a level 2 in writing, and this is a weak language domain for him/her, I am going to set a writing goal to get him/her to a level 3. Student names covered for privacy. Generally, I set one or two main goals with my students. If a student is progressing at an appropriate rate in reading and listening, but is weaker in writing and speaking, my focus with that student will be to create a writing and speaking goal for the year. Of course we will still work on reading and listening skills, but the goal is to measurably increase the weaker skills. If they are progressing in all areas but one, then they’ll have just one language goal for the year. If I set two goals for a student, then I usually split the goals up focusing on one goal during the first half of the year, and the other during the second half. I have many small groups that I meet with throughout the week, and most are grouped according to need, so I find that setting a "group goal" can be more practical in the sense that the goal setting process is simplified and goes much quicker because everyone is working towards a similar goal. I still track individual student progress, but the group as a whole is working towards a common goal. Ultimately, when setting goals, you'll do what works best for you and your students. How it looks from one group to the next might look very different. Creating a Goal After I analyze each student's scores and I know the area(s) that need targeting, I use language descriptors to help create their goals. The descriptors are formatted with two levels side by side. Once I determine where my students or groups are, I then choose skills from the next level up to create a challenging, yet attainable, goal. I'll write the goal on the board for the students to copy on their own goal setting sheet. This sheet gets glued into their notebooks or their folders. We then, together, come up with skills we can work on that will help them reach that goal. I lead this discussion but they are definitely part of this process. Once a couple of strategies/skills are decided upon, I'll write them on the board and the students copy them on their goal setting sheet as well. This will be a reference throughout the year as we keep focus on what their goals are. I keep the language descriptors page, one for each student, in my binder. As we work, I check off the various skills and take anecdotal notes on how they are doing. Here, I want to get my student(s) from a level 3 in Speaking to a level 4, so I use the descriptors to help create a challenging yet attainable goal. Measuring Progress I keep track of my students' progress throughout the year, but at the beginning, middle and end of the year I use summative assessments to measure progress towards student goals. These scores become part of my official data collection. The assessments are typically a writing prompt, a speaking or listening activity and/or a reading assessment. After these assessments, I make time to meet individually with students to conference on their progress. For the students, or groups, that I have tracking their own progress, it is during this time that students shade in their graphs. Charting their own progress provides a great visual and is highly motivating for most students. This too will look different depending on your students. You may find that this is also a good time to revisit the steps needed to reach their language goal(s). I do not have my first graders chart their progress, nor do I have my newcomers. I usually add charting progress with my second or third graders and higher grades. My 1st graders know that we are working on goals because I post a learning target poster for each group, but they don't track them, I do the tracking. I'm not suggesting that you don't let your "firsties" track their own progress, I just choose not to. I have spoken with teachers who do and they have great success with it. You have to decide what works best for you and your students when setting goals. For newcomers, I show them at the end of the year how much progress they've made. They are usually amazed to see how far they've come. In the End... My number one piece of advice when setting language goals is, keep it simple! It can easily become overwhelming, but if you know your students' needs, and you group them accordingly, you can set one goal for the group. If they have multiple needs, give them one goal at a time to work on. You can always give a second goal later. When goals are clear and an action plan, or "road map", is in place, students (and teachers) are set up for success! Your students will love seeing their progress from the beginning of the year (BOY) to the end of the year (EOY). For the students who track and chart their own progress, this process can be highly motivating. They love pushing themselves, IF they know what they are working towards. My Language Goals resources below have all of the components necessary to help you start planning and setting goals with your ELs. Data Collection Sheets - get to know your students and their needs Descriptors for Each Language Domain - levels formatted side by side Goal Setting Sheets - for students Goal Planning Sheets - for planning or language goal posters Progress Monitoring Graphs -students actively participate in tracking their progress Cover Pages and Divider Pages - for creating a personalized "Language Goals" teacher binder It's never too late to set goals with your students. Click HERE to find my Language Goals for English Learners!
Teaching phonics is an important aspect of a literacy program. This is especially true for ELLs. Phonics is the relationship between sounds and the letter or letters used to write them. Phonics connects sounds with letters and combinations of letters. In the English language, there are 26 letters and 44 sounds (called phonemes). A grapheme
Newcomer students receive some support from an ELD (English Language Development) teacher in most elementary schools. The majority of their time is spent in their grade level classroom. Here are some strategies for supporting a newcomer student both in their grade level classroom and areas to focus on during targeted language development lessons. Create a
Advice from three ESL teachers on the things regular classroom teachers can do to help English language learners thrive in mainstream classrooms.
Games are a great way to help English Language Learners practice vocabulary. Learn about some new ways to use games with ELLs.
English Language Learners need a lot of opportunities to practice their vocabulary in all four language domains. Students need to work on Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. As an ESL teacher, I was always looking for new and exciting ways to practice those language skills. These are 10 activities you can use to practice listening skills. These activities can be used with any vocabulary list, and do not require a lot of preparation or fancy materials. Dictation Dictation is an oldie but a goodie. To do a dictation activity you need sentences or a short passage to read aloud. As you read students will listen and write down what you are saying. The length of your passage will depend on your students. You can find a passage that corresponds to your current vocabulary unit. A very simple and straightforward activity - dictation actually practices many skills in addition to listening. They are also practicing writing skills and conventions. Students need to include correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. Flyswatter Game This is a fun game to get students up and moving. In this game teams of students race to swat a vocabulary word after you have called it out. You can change this game up in lots of ways depending on the level of your learners. First, put your vocabulary words or images on the board or wall. Then, break your students into two teams and have them stand away from the wall. You can call out the word, definition, or another clue. Students will race to find and slap the word with their flyswatter. If you don’t have flyswatters, students can give the word a high five. Vocabulary Cards from Farm Vocabulary Unit Color By Instructions Do your students love to color as much as mine did? This fun listening activity is a creative way to practice listening. Search online for a coloring page that matches your current topic. Then write some instructions for how you would like students to color the page. For your beginner level students, you can use simple one-step instructions such as “color the sun yellow”. For more advanced students you can give two-step instructions such as “color the center of the sun yellow, and the rays of the sun oranges”. To extend this activity past listening, you can ask students to write a description of the coloring page. Coloring Page and Instructions from Farm Vocabulary Unit Listen and Draw Listen and draw is an activity very similar to Color by Instructions. However, this time students start with a blank page, and teachers give directions for what to draw on the page. This can be a great activity especially during a unit on shapes, directionality, or positional words. For example, you might ask students to draw a circle in the bottom right corner, draw a large square in the center of the page, draw a triangle inside of the square. You can spice this activity up a bit by giving students stickers. Then you can give directions for where to put those stickers. Movie or Book Vocabulary Search In this engaging activity, students listen to a book or watch a short movie and listen for target vocabulary. You can differentiate this activity by how much you scaffold this activity. For more advanced students they can start with a blank piece of paper. To provide more support you can give students a bank of words and ask them to cross out the words as they hear them. If you do not have time for a full movie, you can search for short films, or watch movie trailers. This also works really well during a read-aloud. Mystery Box This fun activity does take a little bit of preparation, and some materials gathering. To do this activity, find a box large enough for some manipulatives related to your theme. Cut a hole on the side of the box. The hole will need to be large enough for a student’s hand and any item to fit through. Once you are set up, describe an item to the student. They will need to listen to your description, then find the item by feel in the box. This is a great way to practice descriptive words such as soft, hard, long, fuzzy. Not Quite the Same In this activity, students listen to two almost identical sentences and identify the differences. First, you need to write two sentences with a few differences - the number of differences will be dependent on your students. For example, the sentences could be: ‘The horse was eating a bale of hay’ and ‘The horses were eating a bushel of apples’. In this example, students would identify that the number of horses changed and so did what they were eating. If the grammar of the sentence is changing you can use it as a teachable moment. In the example above I would point out that an ‘s’ was added to make horse plural, and that the verb needed to change as well. Short Stories This activity is a combination of a dictation activity or a vocabulary hunt. Write a short story using your target vocabulary. Give students a copy of the short story with the vocabulary words removed. Then students will fill in the vocabulary words as you read the story out loud. If your students need additional support you can provide them with a word bank to identify the words that they hear. You could also allow students to visualize the story. Simply, allow them to draw a picture to go along with the story as you read. Short Story from Farm Vocabulary Unit Simon Says This classic kid’s game is great for listening! Plus, it gives students a chance to move around a bit. It was always a favorite during our units on body parts. However, you can use it with any vocabulary theme, especially by incorporating Total Physical Response. You can ask students to ‘run like a horse,’ ‘drive a tractor like a farmer,’ or ‘snort like a pig’. Telephone Another classic game is a listening activity in disguise. In telephone, one student whispers a sentence or phrase to the next student, and that student whispers to the next. It continues until the final student says the sentence out loud to see how much of the original message was preserved. This activity also practices speaking. You can either provide students with sentences, or allow them to create their own. Telephone Sentences from Farm Vocabulary Unit Are there any vocabulary activities your students love that I missed? Did you try one of these activities? Share them with me by commenting or connecting with me by email, [email protected], or find me on Instagram, @TeachingEternity. Pin it - to come back later!
What are language functions? LFs are the "reasons" we use language; it's our purpose, or goal, when we express ourselves. Perhaps we want to express our needs or wants, explain a process, describe an experience, or persuade someone to do something. Whatever the purpose, we use language to perform these functions. Examples of Language Functions: -express wants/needs -sequence -compare/contrast -opinion -persuade -inform -describe -analyze -cause/effect -summarize -ask questions Students use language functions in every grade level and across all content areas, so what better way to set English learners up for success than by explicitly teaching the academic language needed to successfully use language functions. Here is how this looks in my ESOL classroom. Planning I like to plan certain LF units during specific times of year. For example, Compare/Contrast is fun in the fall due to apples and pumpkins. Cause/Effect is great in the winter because I like to use the topic of seasonal changes on plants and animals. Opinion/Persuade is great in the spring because I use the topic of plastic pollution, which ties into Earth Day. I sprinkle other LF units throughout the year, but those three I pretty much keep at the same time each year. You could teach any LF at any time of the year; it's very flexible. Each unit, in my classroom, lasts about 3-4 weeks, but again, it's flexible. Which language functions will my students need in order to be successful with the grade level content? When I sit down to plan a unit, I brainstorm science and social studies topics that my students will be learning about during year, then I pick the LF and topic I want to focus on. When we connect LF units with the content our students are, or will be, learning in their general education classrooms, it gives students the language tools and confidence they need to participate and succeed. Language Functions Planning Process This is the tool I use to plan out my language function units. It helps me map out the BIG picture first, then hone in on the details. The main components of my planning are: 1- identify the language function 2- identify content areas topics 3- create learning targets 4- locate activities to support the four language domains 5- determine the scaffolds needed Learning Targets I like to backwards plan by first identifying what I want my students to be able to do by the end of each LF unit. This becomes the learning target(s) for the unit. I have targets for both expressive (speaking and writing) and interpretive (listening and reading) language. A focus on the verb is important because it's what we want students to do, for example: identify, use, label, illustrate, explain, etc. The learning targets are then posted and referenced throughout each unit. Activities Once I've identified the learning targets, I start collecting activities and resources at various proficiency levels to practice viewing, listening, reading, speaking and writing skills. I also think about how I'll build background knowledge for the topic. I love to incorporate videos, so YouTube, BrainPOP Jr. and EPIC Books are places I typically go to first for engaging video resources. Building background knowledge using a short video is highly effective, IMO. It's an engaging way to get students talking about what they already know or think about a topic. This planning phase is all about finding materials that will help facilitate the language function. Since I work with a wide variety of proficiency and grade levels, I need a variety of resources. Here are some of my favorites for the 4 language domains. Listening I primarily use videos for this domain. I tell my students what to listen for and will stop the video in designated places to give them time to process and respond. Again, my top 3 places to find videos in order of preference are YouTube, BrainPOP Jr (paid subscription) and EPIC Books. EPIC has some really great videos, and it's a free resource! ReadWorks.org is another great site. The reading passages there have an audio component, so it's not a video, but it's an article read aloud. You could create your own questions for the article, but comprehension question are already provided for each passage. Nice! Reading For reading materials I look through my school's bookroom first. Then I check out Reading A-Z (a subscription my school pays for), Readworks.org, EPIC books (both are free), another online subscription resource from Benchmark Education, and lastly my own collection of books. Reading Materials for Cause and Effect The picture above shows some of the reading materials I gathered for my cause and effect unit. I searched for resources that demonstrated how changes in climate or weather impact plants and animals. Reading Materials for Opinion/Persuade As you can see, I'm a "spreader outer." By spreading out all of my resources during this planning phase, I can quickly see what I have and what I still need. Speaking I want my students talking everyday, so we do a variety of speaking activities in my ELD groups. This is probably the number one reason why I love the pull-out model of instruction, but that's a blog post for another day. Some activities I use are talking mats, games, class discussions, partner talks and simply sharing our thinking. Oral language is the foundation of language and literacy so I'm intentional about providing structured (and unstructured) opportunities for students to use oral language each time we meet. Talking Mat Activity for Cause and Effect Students chose the cards they wanted to talk about, then used the sentence frame as needed. One of my favorite speaking activities is having students record a Flipgrid video. They always moan about it at first, but then they get into it and enjoy watching and responding to their classmates' videos. It's also a great way to measure progress. You have recorded examples of your students speaking throughout the year! I like to jot down notes while I listen (and re-listen) to their recordings. This helps me target certain areas that my students need additional practice with, then I create or find mini-lessons for those skills. Writing Writing is integrated with listening and reading activities. Students generally have something to respond to each time we meet. (They usually write inside their ELD notebooks.) Similar to speaking, I'll have students writing at each meeting, even if it's a short task. I frequently use graphic organizers for writing responses. I like to reduce the size of the graphic organizer to about 75% and trim the edges, then I'll have students glue it into their notebooks. Opinion Writing At the end of each LF unit, there is a written or oral language component, sometimes both. It's an assessment to demonstrate their ability of applying the language function. Usually it's a prompt written in their ELD notebooks, but it could also be a digital activity. This past spring, at the end of our Opinion/Persuade unit, students had the choice to either create and present a PowerPoint presentation, record a Flipgrid video, or create and present a poster. Google Jamboard is another platform I frequently use for their end of unit writing task. Scaffolds Let's talk scaffolding for a moment. This is where we consider the specific language needs of our students and the appropriate supports for them. Scaffolds will vary from group to group. Some groups/students will need sentence frames, while others may only need sentence stems. Some groups will need more modeling than others. Some will need more visuals. Some will need extra opportunities to practice. Some might need L1 support. All will need explicit vocabulary instruction. We want to challenge our students without frustrating them, so picking appropriate scaffolding is key. Language Function Unit in Action For each unit, I display a "language board." It's a jumping off point and a reference tool that provides what the language function is, gives an example, along with key words. Next, I build some background knowledge so that students can connect to the reason we use the LF. It could be as simple as asking, "What do you already know about..." Then we dive into the plans and activities for listening, reading, speaking and writing skills. They spend the next 10-15 days practicing and using the language for the language function. Language Function Board for Opinion & Persuade Introductory Lesson for Opinion/Persuade Model OREO Opinion Writing Opinion Lesson - real life example to connect students' experiences with learning target Reading Activity- Will students' opinions about plastic bags change? Intermediate ELD group- students gave their opinion about plastic bags prior to reading. In Closing The best part about incorporating language function units into my ESL classroom is that ALL of my ELD groups are learning the same language function. This makes planning so much more manageable. Instead of planning 10 different lessons for ten different groups, all of my groups are learning the language of persuade at their language level. I love it! And more importantly, my students love it too! These units are fun, engaging, flexible and highly effective at building academic language. Do you teach language functions? If so, do you have a favorite? If not, do you want to? Here are links to some of my Language Function resources. Happy LF Teaching,
