Student Literature ESOL Strategies
- Grace Hajj
- Nov 3, 2015
- 4 min read
Strategy 1: Story Reenactment
ELD.K12.ELL.LA.1
English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
This strategy allows students to kinesthetically learn a story by acting out the events after they have read them. First, the teacher reads a story to the students. Then the students retell the story from the beginning and talk about the different props they may need to fully act it out. The students get to make their own props by molding play dough or even just drawing out different scenery. Then the students work in pairs or small groups to reenact the story, using the props they have made. While they are retelling, the teacher takes note of what they learned and what details they share.
Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2015). 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language
Learners (5th ed.). N.p.: Pearson.
Strategy 2: Read, Pair, Share
ELD.K12.ELL.LA.1
English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
This strategy is a partner activity where students read together and answer questions. The first step of this strategy is introducing the ELLs to the 4 Ws and an H question words: who, what, when, where, and how. It is then important to model to the students the different steps this strategy takes. First, model silent reading with the class, then model how to work with a partner by looking back at the text to answer the questions. Next, model how to modify answers to questions into a coherent paragraph. Once that is done, pair the students into groups that are as effective as possible in the way they work together. Have the students read the text, answer the questions together, and be able to summarize the text in a well-explained way that shows they understood what they read. This teaches students to read literature with comprehension.
Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2015). 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language
Learners (5th ed.). N.p.: Pearson.
Strategy 3: Providing Bilingual Books and Labels
ELD.K12.ELL.LA.1
English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
Using books that are written in more than one language are very helpful to use in the classroom because they support understanding. Students who are able to read the same text in their native language and in English will better follow the flow of the story. A good step-by-step process to use is to identify what the different languages are in your classroom. Label items with your students in both English and their native language and provide bilingual books for your students to read. Make sure that there are provided translations for the students, and have all your students learn new vocabulary from all the different languages represented in the classroom. This strategy helps provide an interactive way for students to learn English while gaining an appreciation for their and others' native languages.
Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2015). 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language
Learners (5th ed.). N.p.: Pearson.
Strategy 4: Guided Reading
ELD.K12.ELL.LA.1
English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.
LAFS.K.RL.1.1
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
This strategy is useful in helping students grasp methods on how to effectively read literature. First, the students are divided into groups of four, and then they have are given literature that is based on their reading level. Then, the teacher does a book walk twith the students by looking page by page at the different components used. Then the students ead at their own pace, and pair up to read to each other again. It is helpful for the teacher to create minilessons based on the needs of the students individually, and then assess them regularly on what they learned, ensuring that they understand how to ask and answer questions about what they are reading.
Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2015). 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language
Learners (5th ed.). N.p.: Pearson.
Strategy 5: Free Voluntary Reading
ELD.K12.ELL.LA.1
English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.
LAFS.K.RL.1.2
With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.
This strategy helps motivate students to read and to enjoy reading. The first step to implementing this in the classroom is to pinpoint the independent reading level of each student in the class and make sure that the literature used for each student is at his/her individual level. Then, explain to the students that they are going to learn new English vocabulary through their reading, and have them discuss the books that they read in groups. Allow students to create projects on the books that they read to present to their classmates what they learned and enjoyed. Make sure to keep track of their progress to know how to best plan instruction fo each student.
Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2015). 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language
Learners (5th ed.). N.p.: Pearson.
Strategy 6: Collecting and Processing Words
ELD.K12.ELL.LA.1
English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.
LAFS.2.RF.3.3
Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
When reading literature, many times students will come across words they are not familiar with. In order to help them learn these new words, this strategy enables students to figure out the words throught help from the teacher. The teacher should determine which words are difficult for the students to understand, write down the words, and then help the students discover their meaning. By activating background knowledge and giving students words that are similar to help them make connections, the teacher will help the students come to a conclusion on their own. Other ideas are giving the students journals for them to write down new vocabulary and be challenged to use the new words in the future. Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2015). 50 Strategies for Teaching English LanguageLearners (5th ed.). N.p.: Pearson.
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