Author: TCR Staff

Teacher Resources, Teaching Tips

Reading Strategies for ELL (English Language Learners)

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Reading Strategies for ELL/ESL

As teachers receive more and more ESL/ELLs (English Language Learners) into their classrooms, it’s important that they learn to integrate them with the rest of their student population. The following reading strategies will help you with the process. Comprehensible instruction and opportunities for verbal interaction will motivate students to engage in learning and actively participate in classroom activities.

Here are some great reading strategies from this IGCSE English tutor to help ELLs be more comfortable with reading.

Echo Reading

Use this strategy to help struggling readers with fluency, pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. The teacher (or other native English speaker) reads the text first, using proper intonation and a good pace. Students follow along silently and then “echo”, or imitate, the first reader.

Echo reading helps ELL students
– Improve sight reading and speaking skills.
– Build confidence in their pronunciations.
– Remember important concepts.

Ways to Use Echo Reading: During chants, jingles, songs, poetry, and short stories.

Tips for Teaching this Strategy:
– Use gestures to show students which text to read.
– Have students who are native English speakers lead the reading; it’s helpful for ELLs to hear voices similar to their own.
– Adjust the length of the text being read to meet the needs of your students. (e.g., for Emerging ELLs, the first reader should read one line of text; for Developing ELLs (and higher levels), the first reader can read several lines of text.)

Sample Activity:
Hold a hand to an ear to demonstrate the idea of hearing an echo. Explain that bats use echoes and different tones to locate food sources and other important information. Vary the pitch (higher or lower) while reading to encourage students to practice different intonations when they echo read.

Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA)

Use this strategy to model how to make and confirm predictions. Here are the steps to DRTA:
1) Choose a text. Preselect stopping points where students can pause while reading.
2) Preview keywords or pictures. Ask questions to guide students’ thinking.
3) Have students make predictions about what they will read.
4) Stop at set points so students can check predictions, revise them, and make new predictions.
5) Ask questions to help students match their predictions to the reading.
6) Discuss what has been read before reading the next section.

Examples: Use objects or pictures to preview a text and make predictions; ask questions about keywords and vocabulary; focus on characters and what they might do.

Tips for Teaching this ELL Strategy:
– Use as a whole-class or small-group activity.
– Remind students to use what they already know to make predictions.

Sample Activity:
Have students look at pictures in a book to predict what a story or text might be about. Have them write one or two questions they have about the story. Review the students’ questions to determine where to stop and discuss the story. Read the selection as a class, pausing as planned. Call on the students who wrote questions related to that part of the story, and conduct discussion about the reading thus far.

For more strategies on teaching ESL/ELLs, see Strategies to Use with Your English Language Learners

Classroom Activities, Holidays, Teacher Resources

Shamrock Potato Print Stamps

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Shamroc kPotato Print Stamps-Teacher Created Resources

Kids will need a teacher or parent to assist them in creating this charming St. Patrick’s Day craft.

Materials

  • Potato
  • Shamrock cookie cutter
  • Knife
  • Pencil or Pen
  • Green Paint
  • Styrofoam or thick paper plate
  • White construction paper

Shamrock Potato Print Stamps-Teacher Created Resources

Let’s Do it!

  1. Teachers or parents help the kids cut the potato in half.
  2. Use a shamrock shaped cookie cutter to create the shamrock shape. If you don’t have a shamrock cookie cutter, draw an outline of a shamrock on the cut surface of one half of the potato.
  3. Teachers or parents, carve away some of the potato around the outside of the shamrock outline. Be sure the shamrock shape clearly sticks out from the rest of the potato.
  4. Pour some green paint onto a Styrofoam plate.
  5. Dip the potato into the paint and stamp onto the white construction paper to make a shamrock design.

More Ideas:

Make Shamrock People & Stories
Bring your shamrock potato print stamps to life by making  “shamrock people”. Add googly eyes and draw on a nose, mouth, arms, and legs.  Have students use the stamp 4 or 5 times on white construction paper, draw on faces and tell or write a story about the shamrock people.  Kids will love adding silly faces and using their imagination to come up with creative stories about the shamrock people.

Experiment with Different Materials
Experiment with stamping the potato prints onto different types of paper, such as thin, thick, and porous. You might also wish to experiment with stamping different types of materials, such as fabric, wood, and plastic.

Use a Sponge
Alternatively, you can create shamrock potato print stamps using a sponge. Simply outline a shamrock shape and cut.

Classroom Activities, Lesson Plans, Teacher Resources

The Cat in the Hat: Classroom Discussion Topics & Free Activity

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The Cat in the Hat Classroom Discussion Topics & Free Activity

Read Across America Day is March 3 and many teachers and students will be celebrating by reading and having classroom discussions about Dr. Seuss’ classic story, The Cat in the Hat. This book is about a girl named Sally and her brother who don’t know what to do on a rainy day. Suddenly, in comes the Cat in a Hat, and that’s when the trouble begins! The pet fish reminds the children that the Cat should not be in the house because their mother is not home. However, the Cat insists on staying and entertaining the children with a variety of tricks. When Mother finally gets home she asks the children what they did while she was out. The kids cannot decide what to tell her. The Cat in the Hat ends by encouraging the readers to decide what they would tell their mothers in that situation.

There are a variety of fun classroom activities and discussion topics based around this story. Here are a few discussion topics:

  1. Discuss rainy day activities and create a Rainy Day Bulletin Board. Cut raindrops out of blue paper and have the students write down some rainy day activities on the raindrops to post on the bulletin board.
  2. Consider using The Cat in the Hat to introduce your social studies unit about safety or stranger awareness.
  3. Collect real hats and/or pictures of hats that can be displayed around the classroom to promote interest. Each day you teach the unit put on a hat (or show a picture of a hat) to signal to students that it is reading time. Encourage students to figure out who would wear such a hat.
  4. Have the students wear a hat when it is their turn to read a page out of the book. Discuss the feel and look of the hat and who would typically wear it.
  5. Set the stage and build background by discussing the following:
  • Have you ever been left home alone?
  • What activities are you allowed/not allowed to do when you are alone?
  • Talk about a time when it took courage to tell something to your parents
  • What would you do if a stranger came to your door while you were home alone?
  • Discuss and do(or review from the Rainy Day Bulletin Board) any fun rainy day activities

Need more Cat in the Hat activities? Download the free Pocket Chart Sequence Sentence Strips.

540 Cat in the Hat TCRPocket Chart Sequence Strips 2Use the Cat in the Hat sequence sentence strips to create a pocket chart activity. Teach and practice sequencing skills, reproduce, cut out and laminate the sequence sentence strips below. Have the students put them in the correct order and display them on a pocket chart. Students may also work in groups to create a book by cutting the strips, pasting them on drawing paper, and illustrating their sentences. Staple the strips in the correct order and read them to the class.

For more Cat in the Hat activities, discussion topics, and lessons see A Guide for Using The Cat in the Hat in the Classroom

Behavior Management, Classroom Management, Teacher Resources, Teaching Tips

Writing Effective Report Card Comments on Behavior

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Writing Effective Report Card Comments on Behavior

When it comes to writing report card comments and progress reports, it can be challenging to find effective words to communicate the details of each student’s progress. When writing report card comments, remember to focus on the positive first. Comments on both academic and personal behaviors should be assessed and written in a report card so that students and parents can see their strengths and areas of improvement in order to create a progressive, effective outcome. We have included some thoughtful, constructive, and easily-customizable report card comments designed to address behavior issues and strengthen parent-teacher communication and improve student behavior.

Proficient

  • ______ is a good citizen. He/she is dependable, responsible,
    and respectful.
  • ______ shares and listens. He/she works well with others.
  • _______is a pleasant, respectful, and well-behaved student.

Making Progress

  • Since our last conference, _______’s behavior has been improving.
    He/she is showing interest in his/her schoolwork and seems eager to learn.
  • _______ is showing increased desire to demonstrate appropriate attitude and acceptable behavior in the classroom.
  • _______ is learning to anticipate the consequences of his/her actions. This is improving his/her behavior because he/she is taking time to think before acting.
  • There has been noticeable improvement in _______’s behavior. He/she has made an effort to cooperate with his/her peers and practice self-control. Thank you for your support.
  • Lately, _______ has been working to correct his/her behavior, and I am very proud of him/her. I hope he/she continues to maintain improvement.

Needs Improvement

  • _______ can be very aggressive towards his classmates. Perhaps we should have him/her meet with the school counselor.
  • Please encourage _______ to use socially appropriate language at all time.
  • Socializing seems to be more important to ­_______ than classwork. He/she has great potential, but will not realize it until he/she pays better attention in class and focuses more in his/her work.
  • _______can be disruptive and disorderly. Please encourage him/her to be more responsible in his/her behavior, and call me to schedule a conference.

The above comments open the door to communication between the teacher and parents. It demonstrates reporting behavior progress in a clear, concise, and constructive manner. A teacher’s well written report card comments will be effective and can have the power to encourage and impact students and their parents positively.

For more tips on report card comments in all subjects see, Writing Effective Report Card Comments.