Choice Lit Topic: English Language Learners
Whether you have one English language learner in your classroom, or hundreds in your school, there is little doubt meeting the needs of these students will be at the top of most schools' agendas for professional development for many years to come.
Results
Linking Movement, Minds, and Literacy in Kindergarten
Rituals and routines shape our habits. Students construct inner control of their thinking through repeated actions, guided by an inner dialogue. Self-regulatory talk can be intentionally taught, then integrated into...
My Name Is Not Julie
This is the story I don’t want to tell you. I don’t want to tell it because it is too good to be true, and I don’t want you to...
Using Wipe-Off Boards with Young English Language Learners
It is January, a time to review teaching practices and rethink, reorganize, and re-energize. January is a perfect time to refine skills-based teaching practices, and wipe-off boards are the perfect...
Guided Reading with Kindergarten English Language Learners
Max Brand takes two kindergarten English language learners from reading a familiar book to exploring a new text, and explains in the debrief how he targets specific reading skills.
I Have Two Pictures of Cindy. . .
I have two pictures of Cindy. Both are taken on her birthday at school. In each, she stands beside a lovely array of cupcakes, looking straight at the camera. In...
Hearing Carlos: Helping Young English Language Learners Develop Speaking and Listening Skills
Carlos is listening carefully to me. As I read the story, he laughs and nods. He is absorbing my words as I give directions on what to do next. Yet...
Preschool: Learning in Many Languages
Melissa Kolb explains how she supports many languages in her preschool classroom through the thoughtful use of volunteers and other resources in this three-minute video:
Writer’s Launch
Every year I revisit the same question: Why do children so often begin a home visit or enter my classroom with a need to confess to me all of the...
Without Answers
Dedicated to all brave young English language learners everywhere If you would ask me the meaning of nostalgia I’d tell you it’s a tranquil afternoon A moment filled with dialogues...
Are Your Writers Talking During Writing Workshop?
Writing workshop: the hour block in the school day when writers of any age get together to compose, create, use their imaginations, and play with words. When I think of...
Preschool Morning Sign-In
Melissa Kolb explains the social and academic value of morning sign-in for preschoolers.
Keeping the M
Preschool teacher Melissa Kolb works one-on-one with Daniela on the letters and sounds in her brother's name.
Conferring with Vita: Working Through Silence
Andie Cunningham confers with Vita, an English language learner whose first language is Russian. Vita is in the silent period. Notice how Andie coaxes communication from Vita, and manages to...
Drawing to Learn: Conferring with Luis
In this four-minute video, Andie Cunningham confers with Luis during writing workshop. Luis is a six-year-old English language learner whose passion is drawing.
Conferring with Vita
Andie Cunningham confers with Vita, an English language learner whose first language is Russian. Vita is in the silent period. Notice how Andie coaxes communication from Vita, and manages to convey a sense of delight at her work, an acknowledgment of Vita's importance in the classroom community, and some guidance for future writing.
Conferring with Eddie
Eddie is a six-year-old student who speaks Cantonese as his first language. In this conference with Ruth Shagoury, there is little English spoken, and yet there is much communication through gestures and shared history.
Conferring with Emily
In this conference with six-year-old Emily, Ruth Shagoury looks for a way into a conversation by using Emily's drawings, previous writing, and interests. Emily's first language is Hmong, and she is experimenting with Chinese characters in her writing.
Conferring with Anna
Anna is a five-year-old student in an Oregon kindergarten classroom who speaks Vietnamese at home. In this conference with Ruth Shagoury, she shares writing about her classmates and a snake, testing out her growing knowledge of the alphabet, sounds, and the purposes of writing.
Book Matchmaker: Texts for Young English Language Learners
Paulette teaches English language learners at an overseas school. Children come to the school from many countries, and many have very limited English. Paulette wants to share her...
The Power of Powerpoints for English Language Learners
I'm in love with lesson planning. I'm equally enamored with creating and organizing, so filling a binder with unit plans, multi-colored tabs, and pretty post-it notes is basically a dream...
Preschool Thank-You Writing Center
Teachers Melissa Kolb and Andie Cunningham help preschoolers use the thank-you writing center in this quick two-minute video.
