Syllables are one component of phonological awareness and syllable types are a part of phonics. A syllable is part of a word that has a vowel or vowel sound. Here are some ideas for teaching syllables to English Language Learners. Introducing Syllables One way to teach students to identify syllables is to have them close their mouth and say a word. They then count how many breaths of air they take to say the word. That is the number of…
Are you looking for some fun Valentine’s Day Activities to use with your students? This holiday is a fun way to teach about kindness and taking care of others. You can also teach language activities with a Valentine’s Day theme. Here are some ideas for integrating Valentine’s Day themes into lessons for English Language Learners. Valentine’s Day Around the World & History Learn interesting facts about the history of Valentin’s Day, including the origins of many of today’s traditions, from…
Holidays can be a fun experience for those students that celebrate them. Some holidays are a great opportunity to teach students about different traditions and infuse fun into learning. For some English Language Learners, they might be unfamiliar with the winter holidays that their classmates have celebrated for years. It can be helpful to go over basic holiday traditions and facts before the holiday begins. For American holidays such as Martin Luther King Day, Groundhog Day, or Veterans day most…
When you are teaching writing to multilingual learners, what do you focus on? This is a big question with many components. I think of writing as being organized in two categories, mechanics and ideas. Some students have many ideas to write about and enjoy free writing. For many MLs this can be challenging. One reason is that they do not yet feel confident that they have the language to express what they are thinking. Use reading (or have students listen…
There are two ways to think about holidays in public school. One is that you do not include any holidays in school activities. The other is to teach students about a range of different holiday celebrations from around the world throughout the school year. Try not to fall into the trap of only talking about holidays in December. This by default ends up centering Christmass and leaves out all of the important holiday celebrations from most other religions. Teaching about…
Many children look forward to Halloween each year. English Language Learners (ELLs) that are newcomers may not have experienced Halloween in the past or celebrated it in a much different way. These students will benefit from a basic explanation of what the holiday is and the different ways that it is celebrated in their community. This will help alleviate the confusion that may come up otherwise. Here are some Halloween activities and tips to use as you introduce the holiday…
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 Welcoming Environment Helping the student feel safe and comfortable is your main goal. Teach survival vocabulary at first so that the student can express their…
When spring is in the air, take advantage of the nice weather and integrate seasonal topics into your lessons. Learning about springtime is a fun way to help Multilingual Learners (MLs) learn about the environment around them. Here are some fun spring teaching ideas for MLs. Teach about Animals Animal life cycles are great for teaching transition words. One fun activity is to show students a video of an eagle or other animals with eggs or newborn babies. In the…
Figurative language uses figures of speech including metaphors, similes, idioms, and personification. It typically describes something by comparing it with something different. Figurative language can be challenging for multilingual learners to understand. This is particularly true for newcomer and beginning English Language Learners (ELLs) as they are still learning literal language. Here are some strategies and ideas for teaching figurative language to ELLs. Culture plays a role in figurative language. Metacognition helps students to understand when they encounter figurative phrases…
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 is how to spell each sound with either a single letter or letter combinations. Phonics helps students learn specific sounds in the English language. For…