Teacher Discussion Forums

In the beginning of the year I use many different ice-breaker activities to get to know my students. You can modify the activities for the different levels of ELL students by adding pictures or simplifying the directions or wording. You can also use physical actions for responses so the beginners ca...

I love the ideas shared for listening activities. One activity I use for listening is a treasure hunt. It is fun for various levels and ages. I pre-teach the vocabulary we will be using and some years I have had my advanced students help write the directions. Then the day of the treasure hunt is a t...

Assessing ELL students can be hard when you want to use your time for lessons and practice. When I prepare the lesson, I also prepare a checklist with the skills I am targeting and my students' names on it. Then I can keep simple anecdotal notes with a plus, check, or minus as we work on the skills ...

I have been teaching for ten years and I have been a classroom teacher with ELL students pushed-in and I have also been the pull-out ELL teacher. In my experience, I have found there needs to be a good balance with projects and other forms of assessments. A teacher needs to prepare the students for ...

I found a good balance between whole group reading and small group reading worked for my class this year. The whole group reading allowed the strong students an opportunity to model fluent reading and good comprehension strategies. Plus they explain their answers in a different way than a teacher, w...

When I work on reading with my ELL students in a pull-out program I create bins for each student. I take the students to the school resource area where my school houses multiple copies of leveled texts and I let the students pick some of the books for their bin. Usually the pictures are a major fact...

I agree. Questioning is so important and it can enhance or diminish your lesson. When working with ESL students it is so important to plan some of the questions you would like to ask when working with your students on language and content. The questions should provide students a chance to use open-e...

I find that group work is definitely tricking, but if you find the right balance it can be beneficial. Just like any other task in the classroom, you need to provide clear directions and expectations for group work. This can help eliminate the students speaking in their L1 or not contributing to the...

I am currently working in a k-3 school and am going to school for an ESL certification. I recently read about providing students with an extension of the classroom activity for students to do beyond the class hour. I am interested in some ideas for k-3 students. Most of my students have little Engli...

I love using nursery rhymes in my class. Last summer I taught a 'fun' English summer program with beginner-advanced students and I used The Three Little Pigs. The students had a lot of fun and I was able to incorporate various subjects with one piece of literature. We worked on synonyms and antonyms...

I agree. A teacher's smile and approval can make all of the difference to a student who lacks the basic needs. When working with these students you can help them feel safe and secure in school. This can help with their intrinsic motivation. I find when a bond is formed, the students will be hard wor...

When I plan a lesson I usually focus on one or two subjects depending on the lesson. If you have too many subjects in a lesson, the vocabulary could be overwhelming. Plus you don't want to have to stop part of your lesson to switch to another subject matter if the students are just starting to use a...

I often use group work in my general ed classroom with ELL students. Sometimes I use homogeneous groups and sometimes heterogeneous groups are more beneficial. I think it depends on the lesson. Interactive group work does allow the students to use authentic language and feel more secure discussing t...

I have a SmartBoard in my classroom and I use it for my 2nd grade class with ELL students included and my after-school ELL tutoring class. I find it very beneficial for my ELL students. I use the SmartBoard Exchange website and I can search for games or activities to use with my students. You have t...