Literacy Strategies & Activities
BIO POEM
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A bio poem is on Edutopia's list of "53 Ways to Check for Understanding". The purpose of this activity is to describe a character/person or a topic by writing a poem including a few defined, key elements. I find the “Bio Poem” beneficial because it has very specific requirements as to what to write, which is necessary for English Language Learners who often struggle with where to start. Also, it's valuable to the teacher as a formative assessment tool because it would reveal which specific area of the character or topic the student might need to investigate/study more.
SAY SOMETHING
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Teachers know we need to plan purposeful activities for before, during, and after reading. The “Say Something” strategy a during reading task that I have found effective with my EL students. It provides ELLs with supports, like sentence frames or cues. This strategy can be used with partners or independently, as well as for oral or written tasks. After reading a page, students say something according to one of the categories: make a comment, ask a question, clarify something, summarize, make a prediction, make a connection, and make an argument. It is helpful to print the list of sentence starters for each category of “Say Something” as a visual aids.
LANGUAGE-RICH CLASSROOM
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We know that young learners need multiple exposures to words, this is also true for ELLs of any age! Some simple and easy practices teachers can implement in their classrooms are: room labels, frequent conversations, read alouds, asking & answering questions, and discussion groups.
Additionally, teachers can make a concerted effort to use advanced words during regular conversations with EL students to ensure their classrooms are places where language and vocabulary development are fostered. For instance, teachers can simply rephrase what a student says while practice active listening. If a student says “my weekend was good.” The teacher can respond by asking: “What made your weekend so excellent?”.
VOCAB INSTRUCTION
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Instructional recommendations:
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Thematic units
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Explicitly teach words during interactive reading & guided reading lessons (especially Tier 2 words)
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Continue to teach and use the same words throughout the year
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Teach word learning strategies (i.e. context clues)
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Teach words that students already have a concept of (i.e. students know what fancy & beautiful look like, so they will understand better when they are taught “elegant”)
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Teach structural/morphological analysis of words (i.e. prefix, root word, suffix)
TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR)​
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The results of an action research study show that the TPR instructional strategy is effective for teaching, learning, and practicing vocabulary words. This strategy of performing actions or gestures when teaching challenging vocabulary words is especially beneficial for memory of ELLs and can produce positive scores on vocabulary quizzes of both English Language Learners and native speaker students.
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Click to learn more details of the action research study!
PRE-TEACH VOCAB USING VISUALS
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Teachers can add simple web images to their regular pre-teaching​ activities and strategies to support ELLs. The images can be displayed in a Power Point or on an iPad directly from the web. Often, a student may have heard or read the word previously, but a visual can help activate background knowledge, make a connection, and provide an extra layer of support beyond even a kid-friendly definition. This strategy was found particularly beneficial when tutoring a 4th grade ELL during the Wolfpack Reader Program.
