Teaching for ELLs

Originally used with the textbook, "ACCESS World History" by Great Source, this resource uses pictures to enrich a basic defintion that students would look up in their textbook or online. Format is similar to two column notes, with a vocabulary term on the left and space for a definition on the right, but with the addition of a picture representation of the term or concept in a third middle column. First three pages are English only, pages four through six are the answer key, and pages seven thr

Students practice combining sentences orally using: both/and, not only/but also, either/or, and neither/nor. There is some spelling out of really basic rules like combining like parts of speech and also negative inversion for "not only/but also." Finally, there is a description activity that incorporates coordinating conjunctions and a video link. Students can learn a little about a new location while you sneak some grammar into a lesson. Both my MLL and gen Ed students have had trouble with

At the beginning of the school year, I distribute this menu of testing modifications for classroom teachers that have my ESL/ELL students. There are three spots in the chart to work through. First, I put in student names by level, so teachers can reference students WIDA levels quickly. Next is a spot to list students that are eligible for pull outs during testing. Finally, I go through the list of possible testing modifications with the classroom teacher and we highlight which modifications wou

Towards the end of ALWTW, the Engage NY curriculum has students doing a compare/contrast writing. The curriculum asks students to compare an Engage NY text called "Lost Girls of Sudan" (LGS) with the book, A Long Walk to Water (ALWTW). However, for ELLs, compare/contrast writing is challenging at the sentence level, so I created a support that clearly shows which text the information came from, and gives them the ability to write basic compare/contrast sentences in English. The first page is a

Many history students have learned about the devasting effects that colonization, removal from their lands and forced migration had on Native Americans. This reading explores additional impacts on the way of life, environment, cultivation of plants and European weapons had on Natives, particularly in New England. This is an adapted text appropriate for WIDA level 3 and 4 English Language Learners. Modifications include: simplified sentence structure, vocabulary footnotes, additional visuals, a f

Have a party on Nina! This is a 8.49MB large, high quality .PNG image of Nina from the WIDA ACCESS test. I generated this to print on a cake that we eat the day we get test results back. Students get to see their scores and eat cake--they love it and it gets some smiles. You could also print this on a Tshirt or similar. It's large enough that it should print at around 300dpi on a half sheet cake. There are no large high quality images of Nina on the web, that I could find at least, so I hope t

Basic activity plans only, there will be some prep to read/review the activities, and if you'd like to make hand outs, you can use the text here to start those, but this document is not hand outs ready to deliver, but more a brain storm/list of activities to try. 12 page preview should give you a PDF version for free, download pay version for editable *.docx document. Activities included are: 1. Cybersecurity Bingo (list of 30 terms) 2. Cybersecurity Emoji Challenge (10 emoji challenges) 3. Tw

Slideshow includes: Do Now activityVisual based examples featuring people of diverse backgroundsTranslations into Portuguese and Spanish throughoutKinesthetic gameLink to a three page long Google Doc worksheet for more independent practice. See preview on slide #14.I used this with a mixed grade middle school ELD class, though it could easily be used with any grade level of WIDA level 1 learners.

This assessment was modified for WIDA level 3 ELLs in a grade 8 science class learning Newton's Three Laws. In my area, this is 8th grade science curriculum. Photos were added to replace some word problems and to describe vocabulary unrelated to the assessment. Test could be done independently by level 3 or 4 ELLs, or with teacher support for level 2 ELLs. First five pages are in simplified English, second five pages have added Spanish translations. Could also be used as review packet or broke

I work with a class of mixed ELL/non ELL students who need basic grammar review (capitalizing proper nouns, etc), so I made a chart to help them get the concept. Chart includes the following concepts: common nouns, proper nouns, plurals and pronouns. It will eventually be tied to a lesson on proper nouns and spelling rules for plurals, but this chart helped them narrow down what nouns are while developing the conceptual understanding with examples and categories. Chart includes some Spanish tran

Using National Geographic/Cengage's ELD Curriculum, Inside, Volume 1, to have students begin using "First", "Next", and "Then" to sequence and organize their writing. I used this with early middle school (6th grade), but could be used with younger or older newcomers if your school uses this text. The high frequency vocabulary (from, home, go, many, there, etc) from the textbook are included to incorporate and consolidate what they learned in Unit 1. Uses a graphic organizer to break the paragrap

Main points of reading on concussions found in Fossweb book taken out to create two versions: a simplified English and a Spanish translation included version. Created for Level 1 and 2 ELLs in middle school science. 10 pages total with both versions. Includes a color coded CER writing support chart with sentence starters on the last page. Fossweb does come in Spanish. However, ELLs with low literacy in Spanish will find the language in the translated text difficult. This modified assignment was

Matching activity if you cut up the strips for students to match the term with the image/example; glossary or review if you print out as is for students. Terms defined are based on Northstar's digital literacy curriculum for Adult Basic Education (ABE) and ESL classes who are learning some basic digital skills. Great review activity for learners who are just getting more comfortable with using technology. As usual, the PDF should be downloadable for free, but if you'd like to edit the document y

These are studying materials I created to go along with the ISC2 CC exam course, which is a great initial certification that students can get for free online. It's 12 pages long and includes guided notes (with word banks & fill in the blanks), a CIA sorting activity to build vocabulary for the test, an HTTP status codes example of CIA, interactive examples for risk management and governance, and a long vocabulary checklist. I had a lot of fun making this and teaching this!

This is modified for a WIDA Level 1 student. Modifications include sentence starters, organization conveyed via colors and highlights, multiple pictures, word bank, and heavier use of translation that reflect the learner's needs: learner is a WIDA Level 1 Spanish speaker. If a student had a high literacy level in their own language & high level of background knowledge, they might be able to tackle this assignment more or less independently. Otherwise, they would still need in class support.

This is an activity I've used with advanced adult ESL learners to teach the 3rd conditional for years and always works well. The third conditional, or unreal past, is always tricky to teach because it's based on imagining a different version of past events that influences the present. This activity gives it a more relatable context, so students can see how a chain of past events influenced the present. I usually introduce the three conditional tenses before teaching this lesson, having students

For those students who have a sense of humor about their success on the WIDA ACCESS test.

Used for a high school anatomy class with students who needed support in developing study skills. Gave this out as homework for students to become familiar with the format and types of questions their teacher had created for upcoming Anatomy test. Could be used as a formative assessment to assess baseline knowledge of anatomy. This was used with level 4 ELLs and is very visually based, as anatomy often is already ELL friendly. Includes levels of organization, types of tissue, basic biochemistry,

This slideshow for beginners briefly introduces Adverbs of Frequency (usually, never, sometimes, etc) and shows images of common activities (riding a bike, running, etc). The goal is to practice answering "How often do you....?" many times, along with using those Adverbs of Frequency in their answers. Students see the image of the activity first. If the student gets stuck, you can click the slide and the words for that activity appear. This is good for a beginner level ESL/EFL/ESOL class. It's

Two tasks to help students start preparing for the WIDA ACCESS Speaking test and get students to speak longer. First task is restating the question. Many students are tempted to offer short answers of just a few words to answer a question minimally, but the better strategy is to echo the question, which boosts comprehension and vocabulary usage. After that, the second task is to give at least two reasons and pieces of evidence from a text. This is a basic speaking activity with minimal reading t