Gatesville ISD ESL Resource Page



Gatesville ISD ESL Resource PageWelcome to the ESL website for Gatesville ISD. It is an educational portal linking to hundreds of websites on the World Wide Web. Although the sites linked to the Gatesville ISD ESL website have been reviewed and selected by K-12 educators and is intended as an educational resource site for teachers, students and parents, the presence of a link on this website does not represent an endorsement of the site by Gatesville ISD. Beginners and Primary VocabularyESL PintablesGrammar Listening and SpeakingReading WritingBilingualScienceMathSocial StudiesFun and GamesQuizzesWhat Parents Should KnowSites for Parents of Spanish Speaking StudentsESL Lessons and Power PointsResources for Mainstream TeachersESL Newsletters and JournalsProfessional Organizations Helping English Language Learners: 20 Tips from TEAInstructional Strategies for English Language Learners Beginners and Primary ResourcesPreschool and Kindergarten Activities: This site is great for beginners and primary students. It has printable books, letter printouts, calendars, K-3 themes, nursery rhymes, and a printable picture dictionary. Take some time and explore this site.Preschool Games: Comprehensive listing of games, activities and print offs for the under fives group. Join the fun for some games, stories and online activities.Gameguarian Junior: A Portal for Preschool - Grade 2 Students! Use the menu to choose a topic.Kid Genius: Free software to teach the Alphabet, Letters, Numbers, Counting, Reading and Spelling using Sound, Pictures and Video Clips.Preschool Games: Have fun and learn with games specially designed for preschool children! LEGO Preschool offers a wide range of games, activities and print offs.eslHQ: There are 1,274 worksheets and 1,935 free ESL flashcards to choose from. You can print as many as you want and in many different sizes. on esl HQ and more are added everyday! Registration is free.Sesame Street Games: Games | Stories | Art | Music | Mail | Elmo's World | TV Info | Site Map. Sesame Workshop:The ABC Game: Students can click the object that starts with the letter shown at the top of each page. This game has 10 questions.Body Parts : This is an especially useful activity for speakers of Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Mirpuri, and Punjabi because the site provides audio reinforcement in these languages as well as in English. ABC Flash Cards: playing card size flash cards to printEnglish Media Lab: Site has powerpoint lessons and interactive quizzes for elementary level students. The ABC Game: learn the alphabet in 123 with Orgdots fun letter game for kids of all ages. This is a great site for older students.English Exercises online: Site has interactive exercises for beginners to advanced level ESL students.Alphabet Games: online learning games with the alphabetLearn Your ABC"s: learn the letters of the alphabet with this Fisher-Price game.ESL Flashcards: English Raven has an impressive assortment of more than 1300 downloadable flashcards/game cards designed to help introduce vocabulary items into classroom English lessons, and facilitate games and activities.Genki Phonics: Learn the sounds of English by listening to the phonics and playing the phonics games on this page.ESL Flashcards: 100's of free flash cards. Every set of flashcards comes in color and 3 different sizes to make teaching easier.Little Explorer: Picture dictionary. English - English-Dutch - English-French - French-English - English-German - German-English - English-ItalianEnglish-Japanese - English-Portuguese - English-Spanish - Spanish-English - English-Swedish - English-Phonetic. Dictionaries can be printed.PBS Kids: games, stories, and much more for early elementary students ESL Kidstuff: Teachers can print flashcards, worksheets, games and more for ESL kids.ESL Phonics: an online collection of downloadable phonics worksheets Starfall: Online reading and phonics activities are great for beginners. Explore the entire site. You can download books from the Scope and Sequence page.Phonics and Phonemic Awareness: links to 56 phonics and phonemic awareness worksheets which will quickly improve memorization of important consonant and vowel sounds Learning Page: Learning Page provides a huge collection of professionally produced instructional materials you can download and print. Lesson plans, books, worksheets, and much more can be found here. Sign up to get all this and more for free!The Story Place: The Story Place is a pre-school reading library with online stories and activities, take-home activities, suggested reading, and parent information. Back to School Guide - Beginners: This guide to back to school beginners resources at the site will help you prepare for the new school year. Young and Young at Heart: songs and rhymes for all agesPostcards from Buster: See Buster’s adventures from various places in the U.S. Each city has video, audio, map skills and games. (grades 3-5)Kid's Lab: reading exercises for kindergarten through third grade This is a great site for parents. Easy Things for Beginners: Great site for beginners. The site has easy vocabulary with pictures, nouns, verbs, months of the year, and days of the year. Clifford: Try the reading and writing section with students in grades 2-3. Room 108 Dolch Word Games: Site has various types of games to play with the Dolch word lists. Each game is interactive and allows students to hear the words as they work with the Dolch Word List.Just Curious: links to everything about poetry RHL School: A place for teacher to get free ready to use quality worksheets for teaching, reinforcement, and review. Many of these worksheets can serve as the basis for lessons. (reading, English, and mathematics)Sites for Teachers: a variety of free printable worksheets for home and school use English (ESL) Label Me! Printouts - Enchanted Learning: over 100 handouts with answer sheets you can print and use to help build English vocabularyAnimal Eyes : interactive game for learning the 220 Dolch words. ?MES English: MES-English contains free ESL / EFL resources for teachers of young learners. Site has free flashcards, handouts to match, free phonics cards, free ESL games, an international projects Exchange library and activities all ready for printing. Enchanted Learning: This site consist of Zoom Learning Units, Little Explorers Picture Dictionary (with vocabulary in five languages!), hundreds of animals printouts, great graphics, Rebus Nursery Rhymes, Easy Crafts, Geography Units, coloring pages and even activities for preschoolers. Reading level gets harder as you follow more links within their site, and then eventually link to outside resources to extend even further. There's enough to keep your students, Grades K-6, busy and learning all year long!Between the Lions: games such as "Look out Below, " and 'Wordplay"Vocabulary The Idiom Connection: (study and quiz)Go English: A to Z list of IdiomsVocabulary: vocabulary exercises sorted by Idiom Dictionary: searchable; scroll down for a list of words used in idiomsIdoms: Dave's ESL Cafe: (sorted by first word of idiom, all words in idiom, and by words in explanationsIdiom by Kids: This site has over 1000 pictures of idioms. They do not illustrate what an idiom means, but show the literal meaning.Vocabulary Games: Play Word Search, Crosswords, Hangman Quizzes, and Match Game with very useful vocabulary in many different subject areas.Pictorical Idioms: you can learn some interesting English idioms through pictures.Paint by Idiom: Idioms add color to language. Help 's grand master, Salvabear Dali, finish his paintings by identifying the correct expression.500 Words: the most commonly used words in the English languageEasy Vocabulary Quizzes:ESL Independent Study Lab - Vocabulary (sorted by level)Dolch Word List: vocabulary list of 220 common words An Idiom a Day: Return to this page every day to read a new English idiom.Picture Vocabulary: ESL student vocabulary resources including a photo dictionary and quizzes. Most quizzes include audio files that make it possible for you to hear the correct pronunciation of each word.The Internet Picture Dictionary: English, French, German, Italian, and SpanishLanguage Guide: Interactive vocabulary Pictures. (English and Spanish)Vocabulary Games: Learn and review English words using picturesFunbrain's Translator Alligator:English Interactive: Interactive English vocabulary practice with audioESL Printables ESL Printables: Here you will find lots of resources for teachers and students. If you sent them a printable you'll become a registered member with full access to the whole collection. Find every subject from A to Z.EFL Club Resource Box [FRAME] (Chris Elvin)Worksheets in PDF format, sorted into 6 levels. Great for teaching conversations.ESL Teacher Handouts for Beginners: Free English grammar and vocabulary worksheets and printable handouts, for English language and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers and instructors to use in the classroom or other teaching environment. Handouts open in a new window.Frankie's ESOL Worksheets: Practical, ready-to-use materials by a working teacher. (Middle School)Worksheets 4 Teachers: Ready-Made Language Worksheets and PintablesJan Brett's Phonogram Flash Cards: (Flashcards)Can be printed from web pages or PDF. Example: -ack => back, lack, pack, quack,Online ESL Literature Library: Great literature free and accessible for everyone. I included this site in the pintables section because it has these fantastic stories to print. Please take time to explore. Another great site from 1-. Great site for Middle and High School. If you are looking for multicultural stories, this site is great. MULTICULTURAL STORIES!Online ESL Phonics: An online collection of downloadable phonics worksheets. 100s of full-color, downloadable, systematic phonics worksheets.English Banana: This site offers more than 750 free printable worksheets for teachers and students of English and Drama, as well as many other useful resources. All worksheets are available to download and print now, absolutely free ESL-Kids' Worksheet Generator: Create thousands of worksheets and printables for ESL kids' classes with the ESL-Kids worksheet generator.: Zaner-Bloser Alphabet Free printable worksheets for each letter of the alphabet.Learning Planet: Printable Alphabet Coloring PagesMES-flashcards Worksheets: Spaghetti String Worksheets: There are pictures on the left and the words on the right. Students connect the pictures to the words and then trace the words. There are 2 versions; one with the words written out in dot form to be traced and a second with some of the letters missing for the students to think about and fill in. Online ESL Alphabet Sheets: Attractive alphabet sheets for students. These are free to use and download for personal and educational use, and you are encouraged to use them.'s Worksheets to Go - English: Created by teachers. Proofread the worksheets before you use them. Teachers can generate worksheets.ESL Wordsearches at 1-Build vocabulary and have fun Online! 100 different word searches to choose from.ESL-: Download Free ESL Worksheets, Flashcards & Pintables!ESL Flashcards: Download Free ESL Flashcards.English Zone: Many, Many Pintables! All grade levels. Learning Page: This is the home of free basic worksheets. There are 470 worksheets available to members. Free Membership!Kid's Page Archive: This site offers a variety of free printable worksheets for home and school use. learning. New worksheets are added every 1-2 weeks.RHL School: Your place to get free ready to use quality worksheets for teaching, reinforcement, and review. (English, math, and reading.) Worksheets that are truly unique!Grammar Elementary English Online: Site includes grammar information and quizzes, with feedback to the learner. These activities make excellent use of images, readings and audio. For lower levels, try English 1116. Intermediate levels try English 1216.English Vocabulary Quizzes - easy: colors, days of the week, common nouns, verbs, parts of the bodyEnglish Grammar at : English grammar lessons on the parts of speechVerb Tenses: thirteen problem areas, each with explanation pages and a quiz page (check answers to the quiz pages at the quiz answers pages)Self-Study Grammar Quizzes: (BASIC, INTERMEDIATE) collected by Internet TESL Journal: articles; cloze; conjunctions; dialogs; plurals; prepositions; pronouns; sentence structure; tag questions; verbs; correct sequence; word choice; other quizzesEnglish Daily: Parts of SpeechESL Blue: high beginning to high intermediate activitiesEnglish-: articles; comparatives; nouns; pronouns; adjectives; conditionals; questions; quantifiers; agreement; clauses; etc.Grammar Blast: Have a blast with Grammar Blast! Answer 10 questions and earn up to 100 game points. (grades 6-8)Grammar Blast: Have a blast with Grammar Blast! Answer 10 questions and earn up to 100 game points. To play just choose a quiz below. (grades 2 -5)English Specialist: exercises, worksheets, texts, topics, grammar, distance learning, reading, fiction, jokes, games, useful links and resources.Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling: Purdue University offer handouts and exercises on grammar, spelling, and punctuation. English Basics: This section features original grammar worksheets for teachers and parents to copy for their kids. Use them for teaching, reinforcement, and review.The Grammar Gorilla: Our friends, the Grammar Gorillas, need help identifying parts of speech. If you click on the right word in the sentence, our friends get a banana. Non Stop English: You can practise your English grammar and vocabulary skills with interactive tests on this free website. You can receive free interactive email tests. If you register and login you can see which tests you have done and how successfully. Learning English with these free online tests is really motivating. New tests are added every week.Agendaweb: This site has free English lessons to learn English vocabulary, exercises in English grammar, exercises in listening, basic elementary beginners to advanced English exercises; verbs exercises, reading comprehension exercises; games to play and learn English grammar; ESL and free printable worksheets .Listening and Speaking Resources Authentic American English Pronunciation - (Fantastic site) Lessons are available on quite a few topics. Each lesson provides the pattern, gives examples, provided practice (a lot of practice), and ends with a quiz. Each word in the quiz can be pronounced for the student by clicking on the speaker icon. This site would be good for language arts or ESL classes. 100 free short English stories for ESL learners: listening, grammar, comprehension, and dictation exercisesEnglish Pronunciation and Intonation: You will find a number of pronunciation exercises here in the form of interactive quizzes for students to practice pronunciation. A Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Nouns: This site is great for social studies. ELL students will learn about states, capitals, presidents, and countries. ZOOM Playhouse: Act Up: You will find a collection of short plays and skits created by students or based on student-submitted ideas. Each skit is 5-10 minutes and includes a 'script' you can print out and suggested props. English Pronunciation Practice: minimal pair practice and quizzesCrazy Sentence Singer: Make sentences by clicking on the word and listen to them being sung.Fonetiks: Phonics Practice: This English pronunciation guide is useful for young English speakers, as well as English language learners of all ages. Site provides clear audio of all sounds, pointing out exceptions and suggesting learning exercises. This a wonderful resource for independent work.Tongue Twisters From Around the World: You'll find tongue twisters and tricky phrases in English and more than 40 other languages, from Albanian to Xhosa. English translations are provided for twisters in other languages. This is a cool site. ESL Gold- Low Beginning: phrases for conversationEnglish Listening Room: Listen to the songs and fill in the blanks. (real audio files)American English Pronunciation Practice: This site is designed for older students, but pronunciation and listening activities could be used for students in 4th grade and up.English Nursery Songs: This website contains animated clips of well-known English children's songs and links to games, riddles, and rhymes. Students can follow the lyrics as the music plays.E. L. Eaton English Online: This is a multilingual site with material for teaching English. CK's Listen and Repeat: Practice intonation, rhythm, pronunciation, and other things. (podcast) (irregular verbs)Between The Lions: This is a great site for movie and audio clips such as "when two vowels go walking," and "vowel boot camp."Stories in a Nutshell: A collection of concise folktale plots for student retelling by Heather ForestListen and Read Along: Listen to the story and read along. (middle and high school)Audio Concentration Game: Listen to the sounds and find the match.Using Storytelling to Assess Listening and Speaking: rubrics on listening skills and storytelling skills. This is a great site for ELL students.English Audio Topics: This site is guided speaking activities that provides practice conversations, and hints and examples of good and bad responses.Reading Resources Stories for Kids: stories for advanced beginners in grades 3-5 at PBS KidsStudy Dog: a complete early reading software program for pre-K through 2nd gradeDolch Phrases: print these for your students to practice.Dolch Reading Books: A series of interactive, very short stories using high-frequency Dolch sight words. Students can click on unfamiliar words as the sentences are acted out using animation.Kid's Lab: grades 1- 3 activities in vocabulary, phonics and phonemic awareness, and reading comprehensionWords and Pictures: These games and activities from the BBC will make learning phonics fun.The Reading Room: posters to print, games to play, word charts for the classroom and much more (grades K-2)Fluency Through Fables : The fables are used to increase fluency as well as critical thinking.Reading A - Z: This site has guided reading, phonics, phonemic awareness, alphabets, and other resources. There are 30 books to download in English and Spanish.Reading worksheets: This is a great site for high beginner with reading passages and questions. Phonics and Word Study: Students can use their knowledge of letters, sounds, and words as they try out the games and activities. This is a great site for k-6.Enchanted Learning: This is an excellent site with printable books in English and Spanish for early to fluent readers. The Library: children's literature powerpointEnglish Story Reading Room: English Monkeys gives student short illustrated stories to read online.RHL School: RHL features free reading comprehension activities for teachers and parents to copy for their kids. Activities include original stories, poems, essays, and articles that are most appropriate for upper elementary through middle school years. Research Skills: This section features original research skills worksheets for teachers and parents to copy for their kids.English Vocabulary: games with picturesEnglish Story Reading Room: English Monkeys has stories to read online for Middle and High School.EdHelper Spelling lessons: Great site for spelling, sight words, and vocabulary lessons with a place to create new worksheets. Site has many word list for 1st - 12th grade, and SAT vocabulary.Room 108: There's over 400 pages of free educational games, worksheets, animated stories, kids songs, kids art, math games, math worksheets, science, social studies, distance learning, and much more. It is a great resource for primary kids and teachers! Chateau Meddybemps: Beantime Stories: This is a collection of interactive stories for preschool and primary listeners and readers centered around the island of Meddybumps. Tippity Witchet tells the stories about this fantasy island.English Story Reading Room: Online classics books such as Through the Looking Glass, Peter Pan, and A Christmas Carol, to read. (another great site from ESL Monkeys)Dolch Sight Word List: This is a great resource for dolch sight word lists by grade level for grades pre-k through third grade.Kiz Club Stories: Read along with these colorful, animated storybooks. Early fluent readers and English language learners can practice their reading, listening, and speaking skills.Super Kids Vocabulary Builders: Looking for an easy way to improve your students' (or your own) vocabulary? These should help, and hopefully be fun, too.Aesop's ABC: This is a collection of retold fables by Heather Forest.Storytelling in the Classroom: As a learning tool, storytelling can encourage students to explore their unique expressiveness and can heighten a student's ability to communicate thoughts and feelings in an articulate, lucid manner.Stories from the Web: A reading skills development program for children from age 1 to 14. Children can find short stories, poems, art work, games, pictures, everything divided by age range. Also are useful links for parents and teachers.Kids' Space: A Storybook of Kids, by Kids, for Kids: This extensive collection of written work which were written by children from all over the world, includes stories, poems, journals, folktales, and class projects. Children are invited to submit their own pieces of writing to be published online.Play Kids Games: vocabualry games for grades 1-4Storyline Online: You will love this site! Students will listen to online streaming video programs featuring Screen Actors Guild members reading children books aloud. From Texas Education Agency:Language Arts Test 4 Free: Test your level of Phonics and Comprehension.Writing Resources Owl Writing Lab: six traits of writing for elementary studentsFun with Words and Sentences: Fill in the blank with words and phrases.PowerPoint Presentations: There are several powerpoint presentations available within the Guide to Grammar and puter Assisted Sentence Production: Let the computer assist students to write sentences.Writing PowerPoints: writing strategies and applicationsOZ Speller: Student can improve spelling by listening to the words, see a sentence example, and type the word. (grades k-6)Grammar PowerPoints: oral and written language conventions, (sentence structure, parts of speech, punctuation, and moreFunbrain Spell-A-Roo: Students can read a sentence and click the word that is spelled wrong. (CGI Game)Musical Spelling Rule: Student can listen and sing the songs as they learn the rules for spelling.English Sentence Patterns: This is a great site for teaching the 5 basic sentence patterns. Site also has sentence games.P I Z ZA Z: People Interested in Zippy and Zany Zcribbling is a great site for creative writing for beginners to advanced students.Abbreviations, Contractions Editing Game: This site has lots of fun interactive games to play as students in grades 1-5 learn to do abbreviations, contractions or editing. Capitalization Guidelines: This page provides a detailed list of when capitalizing is necessary.FunBrain: Spell Check Word Game: The interactive spelling game for elementary and middle school children is a good word-recognition practice for English language learners and native English speakers alike. (Easy & Hard) Bilingual Resources Activities for ESL Students: Site has bilingual quizzes, tests, exercises and puzzles to help students learn English as a Second Language (ESL).Zaki World: Learning the English Alphabet: Zaki World is an audiovisual site to help Arabic-speaking students learn the English alphabet. Students can listen and watch as letters flash. Student will see the English pronunciation written in Arabic.NASA: El Space Place: Space Place: NASA’s space science site for kids - en espanol features a wide range of activities, including games, projects, animations, and more. Site also contains useful information on basic physics, chemistry, and other natural sciences, offering readers good practice with technical vocabulary. LG Korean Folk Tales: This site has short stories and Korean folk tales in an audio-picture format for children. Stories and tales are available in Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, French, Norwegian, and German.English - Spanish Dictionary Translation Games, Activities and Quizzes:Clean Up Your Grammar - Limpia Tu Gramatica: This is a Spanish and English grammar game in two different difficulty levels. PBS: Maya and Miguel, Games: an Interactive site with fun activities vocabulary drills related to sports, adventure and musical instruments. Children choose the language (English or Spanish).Kids Place: Find games and activities in Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese and more. Visiting these sites is also a great way to learn another language.Chinese English Word Dictionary with Pictures: This is a site where Chinese learners of English can look up English words. Texas State Library & Archives: El Día de Los Ni?os: The site has an online bilingual library with traditional songs, rhymes, fingerplays, games, activities, and stories for children. Internet Picture Dictionary: Spanish Activities: Site has a diverse variety of topics and interactive learning activities. Some of the activities are flashcards, fill in the blanks, word scramble, stinky spelling, and straight recall. The picture dictionary is available for other languages as well: French, Italian, German and English.PBS Teacher Source: Bilingual Printables for PK-2 Parents: This site contains many documents teachers can print and distribute to parents. The documents contain tips and suggested activities parents can use to support their child in academics, health, and other areas. (English and Spanish)Yahoo Korea Kids: A comprehensive website for Korean-language elementary school children which provides homework information, interactive games, pictures, world news, community act ivies, and many more.Caminan, nadan o vuelan - Harcourt: This is an interactive game in Spanish where you need to take the animals to their environment - air, water, or earth.Personal Educational Press: Create free educational worksheets such as flashcards, game boards, and quizzes to print directly from your browser. Simply choose a word list and an output style. (Available for English, Spanish, French, and German.)Many Things: online material for LEP students studying EnglishScience Resources National Geographic for Kids: Site includes online articles about current topics as well as links to amazing facts, a cartoon factory, and a great online "Geobee" challenge.Pumpkin Science: This "Pumpkin Science" lesson gives ELLstudents a background in how plants grow. It also provides them with practice in estimating and in predicting outcomes.Zoom School: Zoom School is an on-line elementary school classroom with lessons in geography, biology, language arts, and early childhood activities.Building Volcano Models: This site has instructions for making volcanoes from clay, cardboard, paper Mache and dough.SEDL: Five Senses: The site is a complete science unit on the five senses in English accompanied by its Spanish version. These resources will help increase awareness of all the senses while helping English language learners.Science Brainteasers, Puzzles, and Riddles: kids' page from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for grades 5-8From Texas Education Agency:Science Room 108 Primary Science: Room 108 has science games for primary students.Maggie's Earth Adventures: Students can label pictures using science vocabulary. (grades 4-8)Virtual Zoo - Great for picturesESL Zoo Project: Students will design a zoo. Brainpop: Animated Educational site.Student Resources: This site has social studies, science, language arts, and technology activitiesKids' Door: this site has a virtual field trip, legends of volcanoes, fun and games and stories related to volcanoes. Science Experiments with Eggs: Science experiments are a good way to develop vocabulary and introduce the scientific method to your English language learners.The Electronic Zoo - All about zoos - includes info. on specific animals.ESL Science Powerpoints This is a great site for science power point presentations for k-4.NASA, Space Place: Captivating site which offers games, animations and projects about earth, space and technology. (English and Spanish)Kids Planet: Interactive games reinforce science vocabulary. Students will love this site.Creature Feature Archives - National Geographic index of many animalsVolcano World: a collaborative higher education, K-12, and public outreach project of the North Dakota and Oregon Space Grant Consortia. ExZOOberance - information on animalsVirtual Frog Dissection Kit: Click on the frog’s different organs to see their names and learn their functions or click on their names at the bottom to take them out or put them back in again. This is an easy and interactive way to learn anatomy. Site available in a number of other languages.Apples-4-Teachers: free interactive elementary science activities and games online for kids Harcourt Science Video Updates: This site has interesting science news videos that include a written version. Some of the topics include: dinosaur bones, NASA space technologies, blackout of 2003, Amazon River, Egypt mummy, Geomagnetic storms, Japan volcano, and more.Science Games - Surfing the Net with Kids: Good mix of science vocabulary games for kids, including word scrambles and searches, crossword puzzles, and quizzes.Math Resources RHL Math: math computation and problem solving.Math Vocabulary: math vocabulary for kindergarten - sixth grade.Aplusmath: This web site was developed to help students improve their math skills interactively. ELL students can work independently or in small groups on quizzes and flashcards.AAAMath: The site has hundreds of pages of basic math practice an interactive practice. Activities are listed by grade level or by topic. (grades 1-6)Funbrains Math: math facts practice in a baseball context for grades: 1-4Saxon Math Online: online activities to support Saxon Math lessons. (requires free shockwave download) (grades: 1-5)Edhelper Math: math worksheets, puzzles, word problems, test preparation. (grades 1-5)Middle School Math: middle school math mixed review (Pre-Algebra)Connect the Dots: These are interactive connect-the-dots games designed to help beginning readers learn to count from 1 to 10 and from 1 to 20. Also reinforces understanding of the ABCs.Cool : This site is amusement park of math and more!Cool math has a ton of cool math games and puzzles, lots of really clear math lessons and tons of very cool math stuff for kids, teens, parents and teachers.Kaboose Math Games: These games are appropriate for ages 6 and up.Teacher Exchange: math units and resources organized by gradePlay Kids Games: The student can play the game and improve their math skills. From Texas Education Agency:Mathematics Super Kids Math Worksheet Creator: Make your own worksheet here at Super Kids for free! Free Primary Worksheets: Generate millions of math worksheets. No downloading or PDF reader needed for these free math worksheets.Social Studies Resources Martin Luther King, Jr.: fact sheet, crossword puzzle, and reading worksheet.Fact Monster: A site that provides easy access to a children's atlas, almanac, dictionary, encyclopedia and much more. Discovery Kids Online: explore by topic animals, dinosaurs, history, planet Earth, space and technology or discovery gamesESL Social Studies: U.S. presidents, explorers, maps, 13 colonies, the Civil War, and slavery.National Geographic Homework Help: This is a great place for research for pictures, articles, maps, and more.Enchanted Learning: biology printouts to label and physical science pages Zoom School: Zoom School is an on-line elementary school classroom with lessons in geography, biology, language arts, and early childhood activities.Student Resources: social studies, science, language arts, and technology activities Social Studies PowerPoint: history, geography, government, countries, and culturesAncient Rome: Site has comprehension exercises for all grade levels.Edhelper Social Studies: social studies mixed review practice and theme units for 1st - 6th grade5O States: questions, facts, comprehension, and puzzles for grades 2-6The Smithsonian Kids: The Smithsonian has collected more than 142 million objects from flags and fossils, to sculptures and spacecrafts, to toys and tapestries. Wendy's World: social studies lesson for 2nd and 3rd gradeGeography Reading Comprehension: reading comprehension worksheets for grades 3-8 at Flash Flashcards: flash games; states and capitals, months of the year, and more. Teachnology: Reading Comprehension Worksheets: This site offers dozens of free worksheets users can download and print to practice reading comprehension skills. The topics include holidays, science, and social studies. The site includes answer keys and links to lesson plans and other teacher resources. The special "worksheet makers" require an annual subscription.Apples-4-Teachers: This is a fun educational website for teaching elementary social studies.Play Kids Games: geography problem-solving games and puzzles on Africa, Asia, and AustraliaFrom Texas Education Agency:Social StudiesNASA: Robin Whirleybird Learns about Rotocrafts: Educational and interactive online story about a girl who goes to work with her mother at a rotorcraft research center. A complement of enrichment activities accompanies the story. Besides reading the story online, you can choose to listen to the story, explore a rotorcraft timeline, learn more about the parts of a rotorcraft, and more. (Chinese, English, and Spanish)Fun and Games Between the Lions: stories, games, songs, and things to print. This is a great reading site.Alphabet Soup Spelling Game: Play this fun interactive game with great sound effects as you click on falling letters to make words. Genki ESL Games: Elementary ESL GamesFunbrains: interactive gamesGamequarium: This is a portal to hundreds of free, online learning games for pre-school through grade 6 students. All subjects are included on this site.Ben's Interactive games: connect the dots, word finds, and name the states gamesInteresting Things for ESL Students: word games, puzzles, and quizzesE-Word games: games for intermediate students.Primary Games: Language arts, social studies, science, and math gamesChildren Only ESL Games: All games can now be downloaded in PDF format for your convenience.Little Fingers: This site has games for early learning. Another website recommended byJamie ScholikQuizzes Easy English Vocabulary Quizzes: levels 1 and 2Medium English Vocabulary Quizzes: easy to medium quizzesFlash Quizzes for ESL: multiple choice quizzesSuper quiz machine: randomly chosen questionsEnglish : a great site filled with English grammar for students from elementary level to advanced ESL Monkeys: online resources for ELL students and teachers. The site includes word of the day, idiom of the day, quote of the day, flashcards, and quizzes.1-: online resources for learning English, flash games, grammar quizzes, alphabet sheets, and much moreQuiz-Tree: This site has math, reading, language and much more. You will find exercises that can help your children master Dolch Word List and have some fun too. What Parents Should Know A Guide to Learning English: for parents who want to know how they can help their children learn English as quickly and effectively as possibleBrochures for Parents: This brochure is available in PDF format in the following languages: Chinese (simplified characters), Chinese (traditional characters), English, French, Hindi, Korean, Japanese, Persian (Farsi), Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese.Parent Meetings: Topic: How to hold an effective ESL parent meetingTo Learn English: exercises for beginners, intermediate and advanced students to learn English. (Spanish and English versions) Kid's Zone: Bedtime fairy tales in Spanish and English offer good reading practice for young language learners. To access the English versions of the stories, return to the La-Clase-de-Pablo home. Site also links to the White House site for kids (English only) and to the Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans (English and Spanish).TVO Kids for Parents and Teachers: Doodle Dots helps your child recognize, name, and sequence letters and numbers, which become the building blocks of reading and mathematics.LEARNING PAGE: This a great site for students, teachers, and parents. Registration is free. Site has Tommy Tales adventure books to download in English and Spanish.PBS Parents: Click on "Fun & Games" for activities for parents and children to do together. Click on "Issues & Advice" for information on child behavior and development, communication, school, and reading and language.Manatee County Phonemic Awareness: Check out this amazing site to learn more about educating children about syllables. Students will learn to clap and count out syllables through this educational pact for Reading: This collection of lessons focuses not only on writing but also the reading and speaking skills of kindergarten students. It is written and presented by the Department of Education's Compact for Learning program. (School-Home Links) [PDF]Sites for Parents of Spanish Speaking Students Reading is Fundamental: A bilingual website designed to help Latino families read, sing and share stories together at home.Monthly Activity Calendar: The calendar provides a new reading and writing activity suggestion for every day of each month. (in Spanish and English)Yahoo in Spanish: a search engine for Spanish speakers.Ingles Mundial: beginning, intermediate and advanced lessons for Spanish speakers and English speakersVocabulary: This site is printed in Spanish. It will allows parents to learn expressions in English. National Center for Family Literacy: a series of 9 booklets for parents on how to help their children with school work and many other parenting issues The booklets are in Spanish and can be downloaded.Isabel's ESL Resources: This site has been developed and maintained by the Spanish Secondary English teacher Isabel Pérez Torres. Isabel has listed a great deal of resources in Spanish.English Spanish Link: This amazing site offers newspapers and magazines from various Spanish countries along with a tool bar that includes a spell checker, verb conjugator, Spanish and English dictionary, Spanish verbs and much more. (available in Spanish and English)Texas State Library & Archives: El Día de Los Ni?os: an online bilingual library with traditional songs, rhymes, fingerplays, games, activities, and storytales for children. Also varied links to web sites and bilingual programming resources Quiz Tree: This is a fantastic quizzes for Spanish speakers. All quizzes feature colorful interface and humorous feedback noises that make learning more enjoyable. Some of the topics are basic phrases, colors, common expressions, describing people, entertainment, family, house, medical, numbers, occupations, school, shopping.Fiesta - ESL with a Spanish Flavour: An online resource for Spanish-speaking English language learners, the features include grammar drills, vocabulary exercises, proficiency tests, and recommended links for reading practice.Saber Ingles: a storehouse of resource links to help native Spanish speakers learn English. Includes games, lessons, exercises, dictionaries, a translator, and more.Bilingual Brochures for Parents: developed by Project FLAME at the the Center for Literacy, University of Illinois at Chicago. Brochures can be ordered in Spanish and English.Colorin Colorado: This is a bilingual web site that provides information, activities, and advice on helping children learn to read and succeed at school.Translations: English to Spanish and Spanish to English translation dictionaryTop Ten Sites of Spanish TranslationLiteracy Connection: reproducible Spanish and bilingual books PBS Parents/ Spanish: Click on "Fun & Games" for activities for parents and children to do together. Click on "Issues & Advice" for information on child behavior and development, communication, school, and reading and language.PBS Teacher Source: Bilingual Printables for PK-2 Parents: This site contains many documents teachers can print and distribute to parents. The documents contain tips and suggested activities parents can use to supporttheir child in academics, health, and other areas. Teachers can customize the document with their name. English and Spanish versions are available. Family Education: Printables: This website contains hundreds of printable worksheets on a variety of topics for use with students of all ages. Designedas materials parents can use to support learning at home. Topics include: earlylearning and literacy, math, music, art, social studies, science, and reading.Learn Englsih: Learn English is a free, on-line, educational resource forESL and EFL students to learn English words. The flash site incorporates 40 topics, along with over 1,500 English words and phrases. When you click on a word or phrase you can hear it spoken. The high quality audio was created in a sound studio. The site is multilingual. The menus, transliterations andtranslations are in four languages: French, HebrewRussian and Spanish. Rosetta Stone: You can now learn English and any other language by registering with the Memphis Shelby County Library. The Rosetta Stone language software, like its namesake, is the key to learning new languages.ESL Lessons and PowerPoints Pete's PowerPoint Station: FREE K-12 PowerPoint PRESENTATIONSPowerPoint Presentations: listed by topics and themes from A to Z Everything ESL: 45 content based ESL lesson plans for beginning through intermediate studentsESL PowerPoints: lessons that teachers can use in the classroom (vocabulary, punctuation, and grammar)Easy English: free online English test and lesson plans ESL Independent Study Lab: This site has over 250 of the best internet resources for ESL/EFL students! All Web sites are clearly annotated. Organization is by skill area and language level.Resources for Teachers TransACT: TransACT helps school administrators communicate with parents in multiple languages. (See the ESL teacher for your school)Strategies for Classroom Teachers: Multicultural Activities for Mainstream TeachersCultural Considerations: Site give information on things to consider when teaching ELL students.Test Your Cultural Awareness : Teachers can take a cultural quiz.Strategies for Classroom Teachers: Classroom Management Tips for Teachers of English Language LearnersNettreker: a new search site that has many websites evaluated by experts in the field of education. Registration is free. Great for ELL students.Tips for Teaching English Language Learners: Strategies for Promoting Success for the Second Language Learner in Grades K-12For Mainstream Teachers of ESL Students: This section of the ESL website has been written for mainstream (i.e. non-ESL) teachers who wish to learn how they can best help the ESL students in their classes. There are a few links for ESL specialists at the foot of the page. Commonly Encountered Problems: Click on the following often-overheard comments made by classroom teachers of ELL's to learn more about possible causes for these behaviors.Teaching English Language Learners: Click on these former English Language Learnersand listen to their stories.How Can I Modify for My English Language Learner: powerpoint presentation on ESL modification.Keys To Effective Communication: Site give teachers strategies to help teachers communicate more effectively with English language learners.Best Practices: Best Practices for Teaching Young English Language Learners (ELLs)Strategies for Classroom Teachers: Topic: Making English Language Learners (ELLs) Comfortable in Your Class.Casa Notes: Teacher Notes for Home: Take the pressure out of creating common teacher notes to go home. Using the templates, you can easily create notes for home. Create notes in English or Spanish - (great for the ELL teacher and students)Help! They Don't Speak English: At this site, you can download the text of a resource guide for K - 6 teachers working with ELL students.Super Quiz Machine for ESL: Each time you load the quiz, 20 questions are chosen from a database of more than 3,000 questions.For Mainstream Teachers of ESL Students: This section of the ESL website has been written for mainstream (i.e. non-ESL) teachers who wish to learn how they can best help the ESL students in their classes. There are a few links for ESL specialists at the foot of the page.The Classroom Teachers Survival Packet: Site provides help for the classroom teacher with new Spanish speakers in their class.Survival Spanish for Teachers: Site has common phrases for the classroom teacher. This is an excellent resource for the mainstream teacher.Internet4Classrooms: Site has a comprehensive list of interactive sites for learning English.Primary School ESL: This page gives a list of primary ESL sites that are great for all teachers. English Vocabulary: Study word list and then choose a game. Interesting Things for ESL Students: This a fun study site for learners of English as a Second Language.Flash Matching Quizzes: Student can do independently at computer with the help of a dictionary.Personal Educational Press: Create free educational worksheets such as flashcards, game boards, and quizzes to print directly from your browser. Simply choose a word list and an output style. (Available for English, Spanish, French, and German.)VOA Flashcards: Learn the words on the Voice of America's Special English Word List. (word and definition)Flash Quizzes for English Study: This site has a list of flash quizzes for grammar and vocabulary. ELL students can work independently at the computer.Primary Resources: free lessons plans, activity ideas and resources for primary teachersEasy Things for Beginners: word games, puzzles, quizzes, and exercisesCrossword Puzzles: crossword puzzles with picture hints or definitionsESL Newsletters and Journals Genki English Newsletter: Sign up to get a new newsletter each month.The Internet TESL Journal: a monthly web journal for ESL teachers.Language: The magazine of Communication and EducationTESL Newsletters: links of interest to teachers and students of ESLDeveloping Teacher: This is a great site for teachers to get weekly teaching tips by e-mail. HYPERLINK "" Texas Education Agency newsletters so you will informed of all TEA?changes from?ListServ?? Colorin Colorado: newsletter for teachers, students and parents. Reading Tips can be translated in 10 different languages. Professional Organizations The Internet TESL Journal: This is a monthly web journal with articles, researchpapers, lessons plans, classroom handouts, teaching ideas and links. NCTE: National Council of Teachers of EnglishTESOL: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages?Helping English Language LearnersTexas Education Agency Bilingual/ESL Unit August 2004 Twenty Tips for Teachers of Language Minority Students 1. Increase your own knowledge: Learn as much as you can about the language and culture of your students. Go to movies, read books. Keep the similarities and differences in mind and then check your knowledge by asking students whether they agree with your impressions. Learn as much of the student’s language as you can; even a few words help. Widen your own worldview; think of alternative ways to reach the goals you have for your class. 2. Simplify your language: Speak directly to the student, emphasizing important nouns and verbs. Use as few extra words as possible. Repetition and speaking louder doesn’t help; rephrasing, accompanied by body language, does. Avoid slang and idiomatic expressions. 3. Announce the lesson’s objective and activities: Write the objectives on the board and review them orally before class begins. It is also helpful to place the lessons in the context of its broader theme and preview upcoming lessons. 4. Write legibly: Remember that some students have low levels of literacy or are unaccustomed to the Roman alphabet. Use the chalkboard or overhead projector to write important words. 5. Demonstrate; use manipulatives: Whenever possible, communicate with gestures, pictures and objects that help get the meaning across. Use a variety of different pictures or objects for the same idea. Give an immediate context for new words. 6. Make use of all senses: Give students a chance to touch things, to listen to sounds, even to smell and taste when possible. Talk about the words that describe these senses as the student physically experiences something. Write new words as well as say them. 7. Use filmstrips, films, videotapes, and audiocassettes with books: Obtain audio-visual materials from the school or district media center to improve a content lesson. It is helpful to preview the audio-visual materials before showing them to the class, both for possible language difficulties and misleading cultural information. 8. Bring realia into lessons: Use visual displays (graphs, charts, photos), objects, and authentic materials, like newspaper and magazine clippings, in the lessons and assignments. These help provide non-verbal information and also help match various learning styles. 9. Adapt materials: Don’t "water down" the content. Rather, make the concepts more accessible and comprehensible by adding pictures, charts, maps, time-lines, and diagrams, in addition to simplifying the language. 10. Pair or group language minority students with native speakers: Much of a student’s language learning comes from interacting with his/her peers. Give students tasks to complete that require interaction of each member of the group while ensuring that the language minority student has linguistically easier tasks. Utilize cooperative learning techniques in a student-center classroom. 11. Develop a student-centered approach to teaching and learning: Instructional facilitators let students assume more responsibility for their learning. When activities are planned that actively involve students in each lesson, students can better process the material presented and acquire the language as well. Texas Education Agency Bilingual/ESL Unit August 2004 12. Have students do hand-on activities: Plan for students to manipulate new materials through hands-on activities, such as role-play and simulations. This includes TPR (total physical response), laboratory experiments, drawing pictures and story sequence, and writing their own math word problems. 13. List and Review instructions step-by-step: Before students begin an activity, familiarize them with the entire list of instructions. Then, have students work on each step individually before moving on to the next step. This process is ideal for teaching students to solve math and science word problems. 14. Ask inferential and higher-order thinking questions: Encourage students’ reasoning ability and higher order thinking skills such as hypothesizing, inferencing, analyzing, justifying, and predicting. 15. Build on the student’s prior knowledge: Find out as much as you can about how and what students learned in their own country. Then try to make a connection between the ideas and concepts you are teaching and students’ previous knowledge or previous way of being taught. Encourage students to point out differences and connect similarities. 16. Recognize that students will make language mistakes: During the second language acquisition process, students make mistakes; this is natural in the process of learning a language. Make sure that students have understood the information, but do not emphasize the grammatical aspect of their responses. When possible, model the correct grammatical form. 17. Increase wait time: Give student’s time to think and process the information before rushing in with answers. A student may know the answer, but may need a little more processing time in order to say it in English. 18. Don’t force recent students to speak: Give students an opportunity to demonstrate comprehension and knowledge through body actions, drawing pictures, manipulating objects, or pointing. 19. Respond to the message: If students have the correct answer and it’s understandable, don’t correct their grammar. The exact word and correct grammatical response will develop with time, especially with young children. Instead, repeat their answer, putting it into standard English, and let students know that you are pleased with their response. 20. Support the student’s home language and culture; bring it into the classroom: Your goal should be to encourage students to keep their home language as they acquire English. Many children in this world grow up speaking more than one language; it’s an advantage. Let students help bring about a multicultural perspective to the subject you are teaching. Students might be able to bring in pictures, poems, dances, proverbs, or games. Do what ever you can to help your fluent English-speaking students see the language-minority student as a knowledgeable person from a respected culture. Adapted from: Short, D.J. (1991). Integrating language and content instruction: Strategies and techniques. Washington, D.C. National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education Sullivan, T. (1993). Sheltered English techniques in the mainstream class: Guidelines and Techniques for Teaching. Washington, D.C. Center for Applied Linguistics. ?Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners BILINGUAL EDUCATION ?Every school district is responsible for providing all students an English language arts program that includes the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) of oral communication, reading with comprehension, composition, and the mechanics of language. Students of limited English proficiency (LEP) will need to receive instruction in language arts as a subject as well as language as medium for instruction in required subjects other than language. Administrators should provide a quality language arts program that develops expanded meaning of language, builds vocabulary, and teaches word recognition and comprehension techniques to both LEP and native English-speaking students. English-speaking students in the regular classroom have acquired prereading and basic reading abilities they can add to the specific requirements a language arts program demands. Therefore, these students have a good start in attaining a mental framework upon which to establish the additional competencies needed for successful reading in a language arts program. The content areas must be taught in the primary language as well as in English commensurate to the student’s needs in the Bilingual program. Bilingual teachers need to teach the ESL TEKS when instructing students in the content areas as well as language arts and reading. Particular attention needs to be paid to the modifications stated in the TEKS. On the other hand, the LEP student who is struggling to speak, read, and comprehend the English language will have few, if any, of the preskills necessary for academic success in language arts. The reading requirements are often extensive and unrealistic, and these students’ comprehension of the abstract concepts basic to much reading comprehension is minimal. Success in mastering language arts concepts is possible only to the extent that the LEP students have acquired the basic oral proficiency and reading skills, specialized abilities, and knowledge demanded in the content area. To ensure that a quality English language arts program is provided for LEP students: ? Instruction must include all the characteristics of a quality English language arts program for native speakers of English ? Administrators must provide this program through a required bilingual education or English as a second language (ESL) program ?Transferring Skills between Languages ?Transfer is the process of connecting prior learning to present learning. Bilingual education as a mode for teaching English language arts is based upon the positive transfer process whereby original learning in the primary language boosts comprehension and retention of information given in the course of English instruction. Recent research on effective schools includes Effective Teaching Practices (ETPs) in the areas of: ? teaching strategies ? time on task ? feedback techniques ? learning climate ?Texas Education Agency Bilingual/ESL Unit August 2004 Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners Enumeration of these strategies as they affect LEP students provides administrators and teachers with some important indicators of the quality of the programs they are directing. Teachers and administrators should be aware that: ? Teachers need to provide information in a way that is clearly understood. For the LEP student, this means that instruction may need to be given in the student’s primary language and through ESL. ? Appropriate variations of instructional strategies increase the probability that students will master, retain, and transfer knowledge and skills. LEP students are best able to absorb knowledge through the language they know. Therefore, their English proficiency is strengthened through ESL until English becomes an appropriate modality for learning the language arts Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). ? teachers should differentiate instruction for LEP students according to their entry-level language skills ? Students understand complicated concepts by transferring known language competency to English and by developing conversational language abilities to abstract academic levels. When they are acquiring English language skills and simultaneously receiving reading instruction in print as well as orally, LEP students should concentrate on developing these basic competencies: ? word recognition techniques to build reading vocabulary ? comprehension of phrases, sentences, and expressions peculiar to reading instruction, syntax and grammar, and speaking skills ? ability to organize and sequence information logically ? ability to follow specific oral and written directions A LEP student would have difficulty learning to speak, read and write a second language while simultaneously trying to comprehend complex reading passages. Therefore, a teacher specializing in language arts must consider two relevant and basic questions: ? How much prior skill and knowledge of the field does the student possess? ? How effectively is the student able to read the passages assigned? ? What is the academic level of the student in all of the content areas in the primary language? Unless the student has significant prior skill and knowledge and can effectively read the text, modifications of the lesson delivery will be necessary. ?Modifying the Language Arts Curriculum for LEP Students ?Educators employ two distinct programs, Bilingual Education and English as a Second Language (ESL), to modify the general education program to teach English language arts to students limited in English proficiency (LEP). A bilingual education program makes use of a LEP student’s native language as well as English. An ESL program uses the second language, English, as the medium ?Texas Education Agency Bilingual/ESL Unit August 2004 Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners of instruction along with adaptive methodologies. The instructional staff should assess LEP students’ language abilities to determine which language should convey the content of the course. The selection of the appropriate medium is dependent on the language strengths and maturities of LEP students. LEP students vary in the extent of language proficiency that they bring to the classroom. Some students come to school without English language skills or with some basic word knowledge in English but are not able to communicate well with teachers or peers. Other students come to school with academic language proficiency in their primary language, but have not acquired sufficient content vocabulary in English to enable them to complete their classroom assignments or participate in oral assignments. Many students come to school with some knowledge of English and some proficiency in their primary language, but still need intensive language development in both languages. It is imperative that a careful diagnosis of language proficiency be done in English and, if possible, in the primary language. After the LEP students’ language characteristics have been determined, teachers can identify the appropriate instructional methods, material, and pacing necessary to ensure mastery. ?General Principles of Modification for Language Arts ?In a bilingual education program, teachers provide the regular curriculum through dual language use to meet students’ academic needs. They modify the instructional program by altering the language in which the content is conveyed; however, they would not alter the scope of the curriculum in a bilingual education program. District planners should design their curriculum to ensure mastery of the English language arts Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). The curriculum that results from a dual language program should: ? emphasize acquisition of basic skills ? foster the critical thinking process ? stimulate continuous reorganization of the information presented ? encourage further investigation of the information presented ? use multiple learning styles Bilingual or ESL certified instructors may also form teams with other teaching or support personnel to develop supplementary programs for LEP students. Parent volunteers and paraprofessionals can work with regular instructional personnel cooperatively to deliver the needed programs in accordance with State Board rules. In other specific modifications appropriate for teaching the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), teachers may include instructional strategies with the following objectives: ? to help students build card files on needed vocabulary ? to show the same information through a variety of visual aids ? to encourage students to underline key words or important passages in written student assignments ? to teach vocabulary helpful in grouping words, language arts concepts, and techniques into meaningful categories ?Texas Education Agency Bilingual/ESL Unit August 2004 Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners ? to pair students for team learning ? to teach English expressions and colloquialisms ? to teach prefixes and suffixes peculiar to the English language ? to develop and translate meanings through the language arts materials and context rather than providing mere translation in the vernacular which does not guarantee the same meaning in the native language and often creates confusion Further, instructional personnel should be alert to language and concepts that may be unclear in materials used because of cultural difference. ? Modifications in Pacing and Teaching Strategies for Language Arts ?The LEP students’ program must be paced according to language and academic abilities. Teachers should give consideration to the progression of language development; listening, speaking, reading, writing. They may make modifications in the language of instruction in accordance with each student’s language ability, a factor that also should govern pacing of instruction. In an ESL program, pacing modifications concentrate on vocabulary and concept development; in a bilingual program, dual language instruction concentrates on a process approach to the content area. Instructional personnel should carefully investigate course selections and placement at the students’ instructional levels in textbooks. Additional modifications may include the following: ? to explain special vocabulary terms in words known to the students ? to write shorter and less complex sentences ? to assign short homework tasks that require reading ? to teach the words that signal sequence ? to check understanding of written language that may convey complex concepts ? to rewrite story problems in simpler English by using shorter sentences and pictures ? to teach new vocabulary in each day’s unit and to review terms already mastered ? to tape short stories for independent listening assignments ? to de-emphasize speed and emphasize accuracy of reading ? to help students organize their materials, set realistic goals, and develop independent study habits ?Modifications of Materials Needed for Language Arts ?All materials, whether state-adopted textbooks in Spanish and English, teacher-made lessons, or district-developed aids to instruction, should be modified to meet the students’ academic needs. Administrators and curriculum supervisors might encourage classroom instructors to: ? provide numerous pictures to illustrate new words ? offer a variety of reference materials at the student’s instructional level for independent use ? keep a variety of word games to be played by pairs of students or small groups ? use cartoons and leave the bubbles above the speakers blank to be filled in by the students ? have students prepare glossaries of reading terms ? use drawings to identify concepts and relationships ?Texas Education Agency Bilingual/ESL Unit August 2004 Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners ? maintain a library of supplementary reference books, workbooks, and other materials that are written in simple English and that offer additional reading samples that are well illustrated ? provide films, records, filmstrips, and other materials that may be used independently or in small groups ? help students improve writing skills by highlighting transitional devices used in writing samples ? use pictures and other visual aids to assist in comparison and contrasts for comprehension of concepts ?What are some content area ESL methodologies? ? General Principles of Modification for Mathematics ?To meet the instructional needs of the LEP student through bilingual education and ESL programs, districts may modify their programs for learning English and for mastering the mathematics Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) required. The program as modified in an ESL language program should begin: ? to emphasize and reinforce the concepts and ideas of mathematics as the students learn English ? to emphasize acquisition of basic mathematics skills ? to foster the thinking process ? to stimulate continuous reorganization of previously learned ideas ? to support multiple learning styles In an ESL program, the sequence in which the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) are presented may be modified to accommodate the students’ progress in acquiring English language skills. Emphasis on oral and visual stimuli aid students in comprehending concepts English-speaking students develop through written material. ?Modification of Methods for Mathematics ?Instructional strategies may include the following objectives: ? to help students build card files and glossaries on mathematics vocabulary ? to show the same information through a variety of difference graphs and visuals ? to encourage students to underline key words or important facts in their written assignments ? to encourage students to underline key words into meaningful groups to pair students for team learning ? to teach English expressions for mathematical operations such as "square", "add", and "multiply" ? to teach measurement terms through use of the actual instruments and devices whenever possible ? to teach the names of currency, coins, and monetary units ? to teach words that indicate quantitative relationships such as "more", "less", "larger", and "twice as many" ?Texas Education Agency Bilingual/ESL Unit August 2004 Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners ? to teach prefixes peculiar to the language of mathematics such as "bi", "deci", "centi", and "kilo" Modifications may also include the teaming of bilingual or ESL certified instructors with personnel on emergency teaching permits to develop supplementary programs for LEP students. Parent volunteers and paraprofessionals can work with regular instructional personnel cooperatively to deliver the needed programs in accordance with the State Board rules. ?Modification of Pacing and Placement for Mathematics ?The LEP students’ program must be paced according to language and academic abilities and should employ teaching strategies that take these students’ unique needs into consideration. Modifications may also involve placement of a student at an instructional level determined by what courses the students have successfully completed. Course selection and choice of state-adopted textbooks should be carefully supervised by teachers, counselors and administrators. Teachers of LEP students should teach the ESL TEKS and pay special attention to the modifications specified in them. In an ESL program, pacing modifications concentrate on vocabulary and concept development. In addition, teachers may be able: ? to explain special vocabulary terms in words known to the student ? to write instructions and problems using shorter and less complex sentences ? to prepare a sequence of ordinal numbers and identify the ordinal position of each one by writing the appropriate numerical symbol and word (i.e., "1st-first") ? to assign short homework tasks that require reading ? to limit the number of problems that must be worked ? to emphasize special mathematical meanings of words commonly used in English ? to tape record problems for independent listening assignments ? to de-emphasize speed and emphasize accuracy of work ?Modification of Materials for Mathematics ?All materials, whether state-adopted textbooks in Spanish, teacher-made lessons, or district-developed aids for instruction, should be modified to meet the students’ academic needs. Administrators and curriculum supervisors can support the classroom instructor: ? to provide numerous pictures to illustrate new words ? to offer a variety of reference materials at the student’s instructional level for independent use ? to keep variety of number games to be played by pairs of students or small groups ? to maintain a library of supplementary books and workbooks written in simple English which offer additional illustrations for problems ? to keep listening tapes on mathematical problems for individual assignments ? to help students prepare glossaries of mathematics terms ? to encourage the use of diagrams and drawings as aids to identifying concepts and seeing relationships ?Texas Education Agency Bilingual/ESL Unit August 2004 Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners ? to support reading in mathematics by having films, records, filmstrips, and other materials which may be used independently or in small groups ?General Principles of Modification for Social Studies (SS) ?To meet the instructional needs of the LEP student through bilingual education and English as a second language programs, districts should modify their programs for learning English and for mastering the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) required in social studies programs. Assessments of mastery should be consistent with the method of instruction used and may be conducted in the primary language or in English. Teachers of SS need to teach the ESL TEKS when teaching SS with English as a second language methodology. Particular attention needs to be paid to the modifications stated in the TEKS. In a bilingual education program, the regular curriculum is provided through dual language use to meet students’ instructional needs. The districts have the responsibility to ensure that instructors modify curriculum according to the learning styles and instructional needs of various students. The social studies curriculum that results from a dual language or ESL program should begin: ? to foster the critical thinking process ? to stimulate continuous reorganization of previously learned ideas ? to encourage further investigation of the information presented ?Modification of Methods for Social Studies ?Instructional strategies may also include the following objectives: ? to help students build individual card files on needed vocabulary for social studies ? to show the same information through a variety of different graphs and visuals ? to build vocabulary needed to read maps and legends as these are discussed ? to encourage students to underline key words or important facts in their written assignments ? to teach necessary vocabulary for sorting categories of social studies concepts into groups and to explain this vocabulary in words known to the student ? to use student pairs for team learning (cooperative learning) especially for reports ? to teach the vocabulary helpful in evaluating material for logic of written expression and for categorizing as opinion or fact ? to write shorter and less complex sentences and paragraphs with fewer sentences for easier comprehension ? to use language experience techniques in discussing concepts and ideas ? to teach the words that signal sequence ? to check understanding of written language that may convey complex concepts ? to show students how to use a timeline to arrange and sequence important facts ?Texas Education Agency Bilingual/ESL Unit August 2004 Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners Modification of the Pacing and Placement for Social Studies ?Appropriate pacing may require reordering the sequence in which Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) are provided until some degree of reading comprehension is reached. Further secondary LEP students, whose academic needs require fulfillment of graduation credits, will need assistance in pacing course selection to accommodate their language and academic abilities. Modifications may also involve placement to the student at an instructional level determined by what courses the student has successfully completed. Textbooks should be chosen to meet the student’s instructional needs. Informal reading inventories in the primary language and in English may be used to determine both instructional level and appropriate textbooks. ?Modification of Materials for Social Studies ?Social studies state-adopted textbooks are available at the elementary level in the primary language (English, Spanish). Districts can also design their own appropriate instructional materials in the primary language by using social studies Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) as the content guide. In ESL programs, the district may use the state-adopted social studies textbooks adapted to ESL methodologies. Other instructional materials such as teacher-made and commercially-made products should be modified to adjust for the students’ language and academic abilities. Additional suggestions for modifications may be: ? to provide a number of pictures to illustrate new words ? to offer a variety of reference materials at the students’ instructional levels for independent use ? to use cartoons and leave the balloons above the speakers blank, to be filled in by the students ? to collect many of the available comic books that portray historic and cultural events in simplified language ? to provide biographies of significant men and women from different cultures ? to prepare difficult passages from textbooks on tape for listening activities ? to use outline maps for students to practice writing in the details and labels ? to support reading instruction in the social studies by maintaining films, records, filmstrips, and other materials which may be used independently or in small groups ? to present clear illustrations and concrete examples to assist the student in understanding complex concepts and skills ? to highlight written materials for readability by enlarging the size of print, by organizing chapters meaningfully, and by writing headings that show introductions for transition from one idea to another ? to use pictures, tables, maps, diagrams, globes, and other visual aids to assist in comparison and contrast for comprehension of concepts. ?General Principles of Modification for Science ?To meet the instructional needs of the LEP student through bilingual education and ESL programs, districts have the responsibility to modify their curriculum according to the learning styles and different instructional needs of various students. The program as modified for either dual language or ESL instructional should begin: ?Texas Education Agency Bilingual/ESL Unit August 2004 Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners ? to foster the critical thinking process ? to stimulate continuous reorganization of previously learned ideas ? to encourage further investigation of the information presented ?Modification of Methods for Science ?The interdisciplinary nature of science experience provides students with opportunities to apply skills acquired in other content areas while in the process of acquiring science skills. Modifications may need to be made especially if the science activity requires reading or writing. Instructional strategies may include the following objectives: ? to practice cause and effect relationships in the environment, laboratory, and on field trips facilitated by providing language and visual cues ? to teach the special vocabulary of the scientist, particularly verbs such as discover, classify, and hypothesize ? to help students build notebooks of their hypotheses, materials, procedures, data, and conclusions or experiments and field experiences ? to ask numerous questions which require higher level thinking responses ? to limit the number of variables in laboratory experiments ? to show the same information through a variety of different charts and visuals ? to develop meanings through the science materials and activities rather than in terms of the equivalent words of the students’ vernacular since direct translations often do not convey the exact meaning ? to stress definitions of terms based on the students’ observations ? to read a variety of sources to highlight contributions of scientists, inventors, and researchers ? to contrast interrogative, negative, and affirmative statements drawn from the science lesson ? to encourage careful, thoughtful reading of short selections in which one main idea is presented ? to encourage students to underline key words or important facts in written assignments ? to teach interrogative words and expressions and show how they are used in science to answer such questions as who, how, when, and where and higher level questions ? to encourage complete sentences, correct spelling, and accuracy of expression of science methods and language ?Modification of the Pacing and Placement for Science ?Appropriate pacing may require reordering the sequence in which Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) are provided until some degree of reading comprehension is reached. Further, secondary LEP students, whose academic needs require fulfillment of graduation credits, will need assistance in pacing course selections to accommodate their language and academic abilities. Modifications may also involve placement of the student at an instructional level determined by what courses the student has successfully completed. Textbooks should be chosen to meet the ?Texas Education Agency Bilingual/ESL Unit August 2004 Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners Student’s instructional need. Informal reading inventories in the primary language and in English may be used to determine both instructional level and appropriate textbooks. ?Modification of Materials for Science ?Along with the instructional approaches and pacing modifications noted, modifications of the instructional materials may also be needed for LEP students. For districts with a bilingual education program, state-adopted science textbooks in Spanish are available. Districts may also design appropriate instructional materials in Spanish by incorporating the science Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) in the content guide. In the ESL programs, the district may use the state-adopted science textbooks adapted to ESL methodologies. Other instructional materials such as teacher-made and commercially-made products should be modified according to the students’ language and academic abilities. Additional suggestions for modification may include the following: ? to provide a number of pictures to illustrate terms such as names of living things, weather patterns, and parts of the body ? to develop interests and arouse curiosity through hands-on experiences, out-of-doors pictures, newspaper clippings, and periodicals ? to use cartoons and leave the balloons above the speakers blank, to be filled in by the students ? to have students prepare collections of science objects such as rocks and leaves ? to prepare difficult passages from textbooks on tape for listening activities ? to support reading instruction in science by having films, records, filmstrips, and other materials which may be used independently or in small groups ? to present clear illustrations and concrete examples to assist the student in understanding complex concepts and skills ? to highlight written materials for readability by enlarging the size of the print, by organizing chapters meaningfully, and by writing headings that show introductions for transition form one idea to another Districts may find it helpful to consult the published readability levels of state-adopted textbooks as they select materials that will be appropriate for the LEP students. In summary, these suggestions for modification of the academic program for teaching mathematics, social studies, and science to the LEP student are a beginning. Additional instructional suggestions and techniques can be used from the Compensatory, Gifted and Talented and Migrant Education programs. Adapted and revised by TEA, July 2004 ?Texas Education Agency Bilingual/ESL Unit August 2004 ?? ................
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