COMPARING ADJECTIVES FILE FOLDER GAMES File folder games are a fun way for students to practice vocabulary concepts. They are a simple way to store game pieces and allow students to independently practice skills. Once students learn how to play a file folder game they can become part of a center. My Comparing Adjectives File Folder Games offer two levels of puzzles for students to practice with. Currently I have 4 sets of file folder games with 6 sets of…
10 ESOL Teacher Must Haves As an ESOL teacher I worked with students in a variety of settings. Here are my 10 ESOL teacher must haves that I have found to be valuable tools for working with students in a wide range of ages and levels. Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click on an Amazon link and make a purchase. This does not cost you any extra money. Teaching…
All students have a range of emotions when they start a new school year. Often they are excited to meet their teacher and see old friends. They can also be nervous about having a new teaching, learn new classroom procedures, and having to get to know new classmates. This is especially true for English Language Learners. These students can also have the added stress of not entirely understanding the instructions from their teacher. Many ESOL teachers have to spend time…
Diverse books are a vital part of any classroom. This is especially true when there are English Language Learners in the room. Students need access to books that have characters that look like them and come from similar backgrounds as them. They also need to read about places and characters that are different from them. Take a look at these lists of diverse books for ELLs. If you need help obtaining these books take a look at my ideas for…
Speak then Write: Supporting ELLs Writing through Listening and Speaking For many children learning a new language they go through a similar progression of language acquisition. Listening skills come first, then speaking, then reading, finally writing. With this information in mind, I find it helpful to integrate language skills. This also has the added benefit of helping students generate ideas in multiple ways and helping children that learn in different ways to be successful. Here are some ideas to help…
Summer Books Around the World: Kids & Customs Travel around the world this summer with children’s literature. Here is a collection on books about diverse kids from around the world. For more ideas about helping children read over the summer check out my Summer Reading Tips for ELLs. Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click on an Amazon link and make a purchase. This does not cost you any extra…
Whether you are a summer school session, your school year is still going/already started, or you are looking for ideas to give to families to continue learning over the summer here are some summer learning tips to help you out. Summer Learning Tip- STEM Activities The summer is a great time to incorporate more hands on learning. STEM activities are engaging and great for language development. Stick Fort Building– Try using twigs and having students build forts for dolls/action figures…
Summer Reading Tips for English Language Learners One of the best ways to improve reading comprehension and vocabulary development is to READ. The summer is the perfect time for students to read for pleasure. The challenge is convincing reluctant readers to pick up a book when they are not in school. Library Summer Reading Program Many public libraries have a summer reading program. Children record the title of the books that they read and then turn in the list for…
How to Use Donors Choose to get Materials from Teachers Pay Teachers Over the years I have received many wonderful teaching materials through Donors Choose. Recently I discovered a way to use this site to obtain materials from Teachers Pay Teachers. If you are not familiar with Donors Choose, it is a crowdfunding site where people donate to projects that teachers post. As a teachers you describe your classroom and a student need. The easiest way to get materials is…
Academic Language Teaching Ideas for English Language Learners Academic language is the language of school. Tier 2 vocabulary words that are found across different subject areas are components of academic language. For English language Learners it is particularly important to develop their academic language. For English Language Learners that are new to the country, it can take from seven to ten years for them to learn academic language. Johnson (2012) stats that “for ELL’s Academic language is a third language…