For teachers of students in 3rd through 5th grade, one key reading strategy that increases comprehension is drawing conclusions. This fundamental reading strategy not only helps students’ understanding of a text but also encourages them to think critically about a text and form their own judgements. Drawing conclusions can be one of the more difficult reading comprehension strategies for students to grasp. This is because it requires students to already be comfortable with the reading strategies of both using background knowledge and making inferences.  WHAT IS THE DRAWING CONCLUSIONS RE ..read more

Generally, when we think of book reports, we think of fiction reading response. However, nonfiction book report templates serve equally as important of a purpose for digging deep into nonfiction texts.   Book reports are such a great way to encourage the use of many different reading skills with the same text. With one nonfiction text, students can practice skills like identifying main idea and details, analyzing text structure, finding nonfiction text features, summarizing, quoting, paraphrasing, finding the author’s purpose, citing text evidence, etc. The list goes on and on!  By a ..read more

It can be overwhelming to try to figure out what the order of teaching ESL grammar is to newcomer ELLs/MLs. It is so hard to choose where to start with a scope and sequence because many grammatical skills seem imperative for both conversation and writing.  They need to know subject pronouns, the verb “to be”, creating the present tense…the list goes on and on!  There are such a wide variety of ESL grammar programs that use different sequences, so there is not one “right” order to teach grammar skills. After much thought and research, this is the order I have found makes the absolute ..read more

Analyzing a character’s traits is an important fiction reading skill for readers of all ages. Character traits analysis helps students with: Comprehension: When students understand a character’s traits, they can better grasp the character’s role in the story, as well as the motivations behind their actions. Empathy: Character analysis helps students relate to and empathize with fictional characters, encouraging them to develop a deeper emotional connection to the narrative. Connections: Understanding the characters likes/dislikes, personality traits, etc. helps students make connections to t ..read more

Teaching the present simple tense and present continuous (progressive) tense is so important for newcomer ESL students. Because every spoken and written sentence has a verb, students need to quickly learn how to use them in order to create a meaningful sentence. The first tense students learn is the present simple tense. This lays the foundation for conjugating verbs for appropriate subject-verb agreement. Once students have mastered the present tense of the verb “to be”, they are then ready to learn the present progressive tense as well.   WHAT IS THE PRESENT SIMPLE TENSE? The present s ..read more

As ESL educators, our goal is to support English Learners (ELs)/ELLs/MLLs as they develop their language skills while keeping pace with content area learning. One highly effective tool to aid ELs in this journey is the use of graphic organizers. These visual tools provide ELs with structure and clarity, helping them comprehend, organize, and express their thoughts in English.  In this blog post, I first share the importance of graphic organizers for our ELs before providing ways integrate them into our teaching in five key areas: vocabulary, writing, fiction reading skills, nonfiction rea ..read more

Graphic organizers are timeless, versatile tools that support students in independently using reading comprehension strategies. A quality graphic organizer can be the difference between students using and understanding a comprehension strategy or not.  WHY USE GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS FOR READING STRATEGIES? Graphic organizers provide students with… Visual Representations: Quality graphic organizers break down of difficult reading strategies for students into a clear, visual format for students.  Structure and Organization: They provide a framework for students to organize their thoughts ..read more

The verb “to be” is the most commonly used verb in the English language.  However, it is an irregular verb in that it does not follow the same grammar rules as regular verbs (in all forms of the present or past tense).  This can make it a tricky verb for ELs/MLLs to grasp.   Because of the verb’s irregularity, it is important to explicitly teach the verb “to be”. Teachers can give students a variety of practice in applying the forms of “to be” in their own language usage across all language domains – listening, speaking, reading and writing.    So, what are ..read more

Using subject pronouns is key to forming sentences and making the English language flow naturally.  This is why one of the absolute first ESL grammar skills that newcomers need to learn is subject pronouns.  However, teaching subject pronouns does not need to be boring!  It is so important to involve students in a variety of activities when teaching any grammar skill. This ensures that students get the necessary repetition of a skill while also getting chances to apply it in ways that meet their learning style needs.   Below are steps you can take for teaching su ..read more

Writing a response to literature, or a book report, is an essential part of connecting reading and writing for upper elementary students. It allows them to reflect on what they have read and dig deep into important fiction skills. These can include: Identifying author’s purpose Writing a fiction summary Selecting key events Finding themes Analyzing characters Comparing characters Tracking character changes Analyzing author’s craft Likes/Dislikes Writing a recommendation Reflecting on what they have learned from the story Making connections (text to self, text to text, text to world ..read more