• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s “Graphic Organizers” – 39 reproducible graphic organizers in PDF format. Each file contains a brief instruction for the students. All graphic organizers are available in English and Spanish.
• TeAchnology “General Graphic Organizers Worksheets”– A treasure of reproducible graphic organizers in pdf format. Explanations of how to use each organizer are included. From the home page, scroll down to “Graphic Organizers.”
• Inspiration Software, Inc. “Visual Learning Overview”– A commercial software tool for visual learning that allows teachers and students to build diagrams, visually brainstorm ideas, create outlines, planning and delivering presentations. Provides a brief description of each type of visual learning tool. Requires a license, which your school may have.
• The History Place “Great Speeches Collection” – Texts of influential speeches made from St. Francis of Assisi’s 1220 “Sermon to the Birds” to Frederick Douglass’ “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” (1852). Susan B. Anthony’s 1873 speech “On Women’s Rights to Vote” was used as the basis for the graphic organizer in Example 2 in this chapter. From the home page, search for “famous speeches.” Some audio also available.
• Reading Rockets “Using Graphic Organizers in Literature-Based Science Instruction” by Carol Cox – This article shows how graphic organizers can be used in different academic subjects and how they can be adapted for different grades. The author also includes links to a variety of resources.
• Understood.org “Graphic Organizers to Help Kids with Writing,” andUnderstood.org “Graphic Organizers to Help Kids with Math” – Through a partnership between fifteen nonprofit organizations and the National Center for Learning, these two sites provide resources to parents and teachers, such as reproducible organizers in PDF format to help kids with math or writing. Each file contains an example of how to use the organizer, followed by a blank copy for classroom use.

Additional Resources

Add visuals to graphic organizers, presentations, charts, worksheets, and other materials (as easy as A, B, C–and free!):

A) search for visuals on Google Images: Go to Google.com, enter a topic (e.g., “solar system”), click on “Images” then “Tools” then “Usage rights” and select “Labeled for reuse” in the drop-down menu. These images may be used without requesting permission for classroom materials that you develop.
B) use your phone to photograph classroom items and activities or have students use a digital camera to photograph them and add the photos to text that needs visual support (e.g., photos showing students acting out specific classroom procedures).
C) save old textbooks, magazines, and other printed materials with photos and drawings and cut out their visuals. Ask friends to collect these items for your classroom. Put them on index cards and label them, or ask students to do it.

• Jason Lankow, Josh Ritchie, and Ross Crooks. (2012). Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling, John Wiley & Sons. This book has easy-to-follow steps and tips and strategies to create compelling and shareable visual content. The strategies help students find stories in data and allow them to visually communicate information with others in a concise manner. 
• E-learning Infographics “The Ultimate Math Cheat Sheet Infographic” – This site includes various learning sheets that explain key math concepts in an easy manner.
• Thomas Eaton. (2014). Infographic Guide to Life, the Universe and Everything, Cassell – This book contains one hundred infographics that teach a variety of concepts in life and physical science.
• Nadia Higgins. (2018). The Solar System Through Infographics, Lerner Publications – This book helps students to understand the facts and key concepts of the solar system though charts, maps, and illustrations.
• Theodore Gray. The Elements. Touch Press Media – This app has vivid images of the periodic table of the elements. It also includes written definitions and photos of related items. Available in the App Store (cost: $8.99). Knowledge of the elements can be tested with the free Elements Flashcard app.
• Theodore Gray. The Elements in Action. Touch Press Media – This app describes each element’s characteristics and shows a video of it in use. Available in the App Store (cost: $8.99).
• Theodore Gray. Molecules. Touch Press Media – This app uses video and interactive images to show molecules in action. Available in the App Store (cost: $9.99).
• University of Colorado Boulder “PhET Interactive Simulations for Science and Math” – The animations on this site explain a variety of STEM concepts for all grade levels and are available in dozens of languages. Select the simulations and languages under Teacher Resources on the home page, where you can also learn how to best use the PhET simulations.

• Theodore Gray. The Elements. Touch Press Media – This app has vivid images of the periodic table of the elements and includes written definitions and photos of related items. Available in the App Store (cost: $8.99). Knowledge of the elements can be tested with the free Elements Flashcard app.
• Theodore Gray. The Elements in Action. Touch Press Media – This app describes each element’s characteristics and shows a video of it in use. Available in the App Store (cost: $8.99).
• PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder – The animations on this site explain a variety of STEM concepts for all grade levels and are available in dozens of languages. Select the simulations and languages under Teacher Resources on the home page, where you can also learn how to best use the PhET simulations.
• EAI Education Teaching Supplies offers teaching supplies, classroom resources, manipulatives, and educational games for grades PreK-12.
• Lakeshore Learning “Blocks and Manipulatives” offers books, manipulatives, kits with rock samples, erosion tables, and other objects used for instruction. There are also free reproducible teacher resources available. 
• Dredge, Stuart., “10 of the Best Virtual Reality Apps for your Smartphone.” The Guardian – Stuart Dredge’s list of the 10 best apps that use virtual reality headsets or multi-projected environments, sometimes in combination with physical environments or props, to generate realistic images, sounds and other sensations that simulate a user’s physical presence in a virtual or imaginary environment.
• Bloom Board – Search for “realia strategies” on Bloom Board’s home page. In addition to short videos that explain the use of realia in the classroom, the chapter “Realia strategies: Connecting language acquisition” provides a list of commonly used realia in connection to content areas and ideas on their use.

• The Teacher Toolkit “Total Physical Response (TPR)”  – This toolkit describes the process of TPR and provides ideas for when to use it, as well as how to adapt it for students with varying needs.
• ISL Collective “15 Free ESL Kinesthetics, TPR (Total Physical Response)” – This platform contains free-to-use worksheets developed by a community of language teachers from around the globe. Use the “Material Type” pull-down menu to access the TPR activities and worksheets. A free account is required for downloads.
• Lindsay Hamilton – TeacherTube, “Total Physical Response Slope of a Line” – This video shows a teacher demonstrating how to engage a group of students by using TPR for teaching math vocabulary. 
• Kate Kranzush – YouTube, “Math TPR” – Watch this video to find out how a teacher uses TPR to teach math concepts with a group of elementary students.
• Jennifer Madland – YouTube, “Walker Middle School TPR Vocabulary” – Watch this video to see the branches of government taught through TPR.

Reading Horizons, English Skills Learning Center “ESL Teaching Strategies: 6 Tips for Using Repetition in the Classroom” – This blog explains when and how to use repetition to maximize English learners’ exposure to and use of academic language.

Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Carol Rothenberg. (2008). Content-Area Conversations: How to Plan Discussion-Based Lessons for Diverse Language Learners. ASCD. This publication is a practical, hands-on guide to creating and managing environments that spur sophisticated levels of student oral and written communication. 

Kathleen Mohr and Eric Mohr. (2007). “Extending English-Language Learners’ Classroom Interactions Using the Response Protocol.” Reading Teacher, 60(5), 440–50. Available on the Colorín Colorado website. In this article, the authors first describe the verbal interactions in a typical classroom, give question-answer-feedback examples for different situations, and then lay out a plan for increasing English learners’ classroom talk through teacher modeling.

Other Resources

Languages International. ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook. Teacher Language – This PDF assists you in determining issues in your classroom communication and how to solve them.

• Kathleen Cotton. (1988). Classroom Questioning. School Improvement Research Series. Portland: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. This downloadable PDF provides practical guidance for teachers in how to ask questions that support student learning and engagement. 
• Jane D. Hill and Kirsten B. Miller. (2013). Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners (2nd ed.). ASCD. This book provides evidence-based strategies for teaching including questioning techniques.
• Gast, Ged. “Effective Questioning and Classroom Talk.” National Society for Education in Art and Design offers tips, tools, and resources for asking questions that increase student engagement in learning. Websearch for “effective questioning and classroom talk.”
• Jessica Fries-Gaither. (2008). “Questioning Techniques: Research-Based Strategies for Teachers.” Ohio State University – Search the term “questioning techniques” for articles, teacher blogs, and other resources in support of leveled questioning.
• Finley, Todd. Edutopia “Generating Effective Questions” – Four ways to come up with questions that guide students to engage deeply with class content, plus a pop quiz!

Other Resources

• Languages International. ESOL Teaching Skills TaskBook. Questioning Techniques (PDF).

• Clowes, Gavin. “The Essential 5: A Starting Point for Kagan Cooperative Learning.” Kagan Online Magazine – Learn about the Kagan essential 5 cooperative learning strategies aimed at promoting student engagement and learning.
• Lily Jones. “Video Playlists: Engaging ELLs in Academic Conversations.” Teaching Channel – see what teachers are doing to engage EL students in academic conversations using participation protocols to encourage students to talk more and learn from each other. Links to a 4-part video series and two blogs, “Why are Academic Discussions So Important for our ELLs?” and “Key Strategies for Developing Oral Language” for related blogs by Nicole Knight and Jeff Zwiers are provided.
• Spencer Kagan and Julie High. (2002, July/August). “Kagan Structures for English Language Learners,” ESL Magazine, 10–12. Browse this site to learn about the Kagan Structures, instructional strategies that encourage engagement. Click on the “Free Articles” tab. 
• Carrie Kamm. Teaching Channel “Building Common Core Skills: Beyond ‘Turn and Talk.” – The author discusses strategies such as Turn and Talks or Think-Pair-Shares aimed at engaging students in complex conversations.
• Serpinstitute.org – Academically Productive Talk – The authors discuss the benefits and strategies to help students use academically productive talk.

• Larry Ferlazzo. “The Best Places to Get the ‘Same’ Text Written for Different ‘Levels” – lists a number of sources where teachers can find texts. Since most of them are not specifically leveled for English learners, we recommend that you use them as a starting from where you apply your leveling if you need to provide an alternate text for ELs at lower reading proficiency levels.
• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. “Leveled Readers and Bookrooms”  – a rich selection of engaging book titles, which appeal to many students and includes options for both on-level and intervention instruction to help you meet rigorous standards.
• Gail Martini-Peterson. “How 2 Lower the Reading Level.” WOW! Women on Writing – this article highlights how to determine the readability statistics of a text through Word, what these statistics mean, and how to adjust your text level at the word and sentence level.
• Oxford University Press. “Graded Readers” include graded readers intended for English learners. They include books at six different levels of English proficiency on a variety of academic subjects as well as literature classics such as Moby Dick.
• Reading A-Z. “ELL Edition” – This publisher sells leveled texts specifically for English learners that are typically used for differentiated instruction. A subscription is needed to download the texts.

Additional Resources

• Reading Level Calculator

• Rewordify.com. “Understand What You Read” – This free online software provides readability scales and simplifies text. Type a text into the box and see it analyzed and transformed.
• The Florida Center for Instructional Technology – This website offers royalty-free illustrations, stock photographs, historic maps, and images for use in presentations.
• Creative Commons – Members of this site share creative works. The search function provides the opportunity to narrow the search to specific entities such as Flickr CC, Open Clip Art Library, and Google Images for royalty-free images.
• Paul Shoebottom. “Preparing ESL-Friendly Worksheets and Tests.” Frankfurt International School – This brief article summarizes linguistic and other factors to keep in mind when making a text comprehensible to English learners.
• Paul Shoebottom. “Helping ESL Students Understand Written Texts.” Frankfurt International School. – This article provides excellent examples of linguistic features that make academic text challenging for English learners to understand and offers practical tips to help students understand what they read. 
  Elizabeth Góngora. “Adaptation of Text for English Language Learners.” This PowerPoint shows approaches and resources for text modification.

10

• Stacy Brewer. “Using Sentence Frames to Jumpstart Writing.” Teaching Channel – Watch this teacher use sentence frames with her students to move them from talking about a topic to writing responses.
• Kate Kinsella. Sweetwater Union High School District. Academic Language Functions Toolkit – In this resource based on Kate Kinsella’s work, find out how to teach English from the perspective of twelve language functions (e.g., sequencing, summarizing, and informing). Language frames and appropriate graphic organizers to use, an observation feedback tool for each function, and a guide to teach academic language round out the toolkit.
• Hayward Unified School District. “Academic Response Frames and Writing Templates” – In this section of the district’s website, you can read up on common language functions, learn about response frames for academic language learning, and download sentence frames and signal words for five commonly used language functions.
• Idaho State Department of Education. “Sentence Frame Reference Sheet for Integrating ELD in Content Areas” – In this three-page resource, you will find sentence frames and signal words for scientific language functions ranging from describing to identifying relationships.
• Tennessee Vocabulary Project. Based on the work of Robert Marzano, the vocabulary project is a list of content-specific vocabulary by grade level.
• Vocabulary for the New Science Standards Reproducibles (free resource, requires sign-in or account creation). This resource includes a variety of science-oriented worksheets that help guide student learning, regardless of grade level, in such topics as human body parts, the solar system, forms of matter, and even plant life cycles.

• Listen Wise – a website that offers teachers free access (must sign up) to public radio stories and podcasts, as well as materials emphasizing on current events and other content areas. These resources can be particularly helpful for EL students, because they offer  interactive transcripts, tiered vocabulary lists, graphic organizers for active listening, and reduced speed audio that facilitate teachers to scaffold and assess students’ listening skills development according to their grade level.
• Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab – provides free, online listening activities for teachers and students.
• Dave’s ESL Café: Listening – has a plethora of teaching resources, including lesson plans, quizzes, and activities.
  
• Voice of America News – provides podcasts for English learners that use slower speech and simpler terms.
• Podcasts in English – provides free access to a series of podcasts featuring listening activities for English learners and teachers. Paid members have access to worksheets, webcasts, and transcripts that provide lessons to support student learning at differing levels of English proficiency. From the home page, click on the “pie+” tab.
• English Listening Lesson Library Online (ELLLO) – has over 2,500 FREE ESL lessons with audio and video to support teaching specific skills (e.g., grammar) to students with varying language proficiency levels.
• News in Slow English – a comprehensive catalog of grammar and expressions lessons, from beginning to intermediate English. When translations are chosen, important vocabulary or phrases can be read in Arabic, Mandarin, Russian, or Spanish when curser hovers over.

• British Council/BBC and Clare Lavery. “Fluency Activities for Lower Levels”and British Council/BBC and Clare Lavery. “Fluency Activities for Higher Levels”– This website offers teachers free access (but you must sign up) to public radio stories and podcasts, as well as materials emphasizing current events and other content areas. These resources can be particularly helpful for EL students, because they comprise interactive transcripts, tiered vocabulary lists, graphic organizers for active listening, and reduced-speed audio that facilitate teachers’ scaffolding as well as their assessment of listening skills development according to students’ grade level. A free account is required to access the podcasts.
• One Stop English. “Speaking Lesson Plans” – this website by by McMillan Education includes a number of free lesson plans devoted to teaching various areas of speaking, including controlled speaking, storytelling, discussion, pronunciation, and role play, as well as accompanying worksheets. From the home page (http://www.onestopenglish.com/), search for speaking lesson plans. The pane on the right filters by language focus, age group, proficiency level, etc.
• ThoughtCo. “Resources for ESL Teachers” – On the page “Resources for ESL teachers,” there are links to many articles and even mini-lessons about how to help students develop speaking (including pronunciation) writing, reading, vocabulary, and grammar skills. From the home page, search for “ESL teachers.”
• Boggles World ESL Lanternfish – contains a variety of resources, lesson plans, and worksheets, many of which are dedicated to speaking activities. Click on “Site Search” to look for specific topics or language skills.
• English Club. “Conversation Worksheets” – Each conversation worksheet comes in a student version that gives discussion points, questions, and vocabulary to be used for different speaking activities, in addition to a teacher’s notes version that lays out the individual steps of the activities.
• Diane Gantenhammer. Edutopia. “12 Fun Speaking Games for Language Learners” – The twelve activities described in this article are for intermediate-level English learners.
• Susan Verner. Busy Teacher. “Speak Up: 6 Fabulous Games to Get Your Students Speaking.”
• “10 Free Word Games” from Write Out Loud – The games described in this brief article can be used as quick warm-ups or as bridge activities. Some activities are variations of commonly known games such as Bingo or Hot Potato.

• English Language Education Section Curriculum Development Institute. (2010). Learning English Through Poems and Songs. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region – This free online resource package for high school students is full of songs and poems and their matching worksheets/teaching plans ready for use or adaptation. The package also offers great teaching ideas and tips for differentiation (called “catering for learner diversity”). Examples for teaching songs and poems are:
  – Tips on Reciting Poems (page T77)
  – Song Lyrics Reading and Writing (page T51)
  – Planning and Organizing Your Presentation (page T67)
• Kristina Robertson. Colorín Colorado. “Introducing and Reading Poetry with English Language Learners” – Read this article to learn about the benefits of using poetry with English learners, how to introduce poetry, and how to use it to develop reading and oral language skills.
  
• ESOL Courses. “Learn English with Songs” – This website offers free, self-paced grammar and listening lessons through songs by artists ranging from the Beatles to Adele. While the lessons are designed to improve listening comprehension, students will want to sing along, thus improve their speaking skills.
  
• Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto. Teaching Village. “How to Create a Jazz Chant by Carolyn Graham” – This video shows an ESL specialist demonstrate how to make a jazz chant that teaches both vocabulary and grammar with just a few words and phrases.
  Lit2Go Public Domain Poems
  Poems for Children Public Domain Poems

Additional Resources

• Opera
  • Create your own opera-inspired song with Blob Opera – no music skills required! A machine learning experiment by David Li in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture
•  Poetry 
  • We Are Teachers – 35 games and activities to inspire children and teenagers to appreciate poetry. A collaboration by Jill Staake for the website “WE ARE TEACHERS”.
  • Edutopia – The poetry writing process can become more inclusive and engaging when you offer a variety of poetry writing exercises. A contribution by Kasey Short to the Edutopia website.
  • Teaching Expertise – A list of 32 fun games and activities to make poetry more accessible for kids. These activities can be used to introduce children to poetry or to reinforce any skills they already have. A contribution by Sean Kivi to the “Teaching Expertise” website.
  • Bespoke Classroom – Poetry activities to encourage students to write poetry and get involved in this kind of practice. Contributed by Meredith, founder of the website “Bespoke ELA”.
  • Classroom Nook – Website aimed at helping teachers in the use of poetry with elementary school students (5 to 9 years old), it starts with an interesting podcast on the subject. It has activities, games and proposals for debates in classes based on poetic texts.

• Composing acrostic poems
  • Poetry4Kids – Learn what acrostic poems are and how to write them following 5 very simple steps. A contribution by American poet Kenn Nesbitt to the website Poetry4Kids.com.
  • WikiHow – Learn how to write acrostic poems with illustrated examples. A contribution by Diya Chaudhuri, as co-author, to the website “wikihow.com”.
  • ReadWriteThink – Write your own acrostic poem following 4 simple steps. A collaboration of the website “readwritethink.org”.
  • ThinkGrowGiggle – 8 fun ideas for writing acrostic poems to differentiate your lesson or challenge the whole class. A collaboration by Jeanine for the website “thinkgrowgiggle.com”.
  • LitCharts – Plenty of theoretical content about acrostic poems with didactic examples. A collaboration of the website “litcharts.com”.
  • Arts Adn Culture – Learn what they are and how to write acrostic poems following 5 very simple steps. A contribution by American poet Kenn Nesbitt to the website Poetry4Kids.com.

• Rhyming domino games 
  • Youtube – Video that explains the use and advantages of learning rhymes to build the lexicon and develop a taste for reading. It especially guides parents in building rhyming games, such as rhyming sound dominoes.
• Domino phonics games 
  • CreatePlayTravel – Website aimed at parents of young children. It helps in the learning process of reading and acquisition of differential phonemes through handcrafted games.

• Pairing up songs and poems
  • The Literary Maven Website – Aimed at teachers, this website offers a study of poetry using a comparative analysis of poems with similar themes. The poems are available on the website and the comparison can even be made through songs.

• Haiku Poetry
  • The Techie Teacher – Website aimed at teachers that explains haikus and helps in their creation. The site proposes the use of a tool for the creation of poems, access to the device is paid.
  •  KidZone – This website explains what traditional Japanese poems are and proposes the creation of poems within the haiku framework. It has themes and examples to facilitate understanding.
  • VerseByVerse – An experimental AI-powered muse that helps you compose poetry inspired by classic American poets. The site offers poems by several American authors. After choosing the author and reading the poem,  students can develop their poetry using the same patterns as those of the chosen author.

Other Resources

• Bryn Donovan
• The Reader
• Michael Rosenblog
• Poetry Foundation
• Bespoke Classroom – National Poetry Month – Poetry activities for secondary ELA
• MasterClass – 9 creative writing exercises for poets.
• Plume Poetry– A free online monthly publication of poetry.

• Teaching English. British Council/BBC. “Error Correction.” – This article outlines some very useful ways for teachers to decide how to orally correct errors in their classrooms, including the “stoplight” suggestion.
• Languages International ETS TaskBook – This professional development resource consists of five units and forty tasks that address different facets of teaching English learners. Read “Correcting spoken errors: Unit 2g” of this valuable resource to recognize the types of errors learners make, learn about correction techniques, make a plan for correcting errors, reflect on how to correct them, and review example-based practice activities in different classroom situations that would require oral corrective feedback.
• Larry Ferlazzo. “The Best Resources On ESL/EFL/ELL Error Correction” – In this list, Larry Ferlazzo shares links to research on error correction and teaching tips for error correction from practitioners.
• Rachael Roberts. elt-resourceful. “Tips and Techniques for Correcting Spoken Errors” – In this last of three articles on oral error correction, the author provides practical tips for correcting errors, including the use of gestures for drawing students’ attention to commonly made errors.

• Susan M. Ebbers. “Linking the Language: A Cross-Disciplinary Vocabulary Approach.” Reading Rockets – This article shows how to plan for and execute morphology study in vocabulary teaching across different subjects
• Elaine K. McEwan. “Root Words, Roots and Affixes.” Reading Rockets – In this excerpt from her book The Reading Puzzle: Word Analysis, the author offers downloadable lists of common Latin and Greek root words as well as prefixes and suffixes. All tables contain the root or affix under analysis, a definition, and examples of their use in words.
• Reading Rockets. “Semantic Gradients” – This article presents different ways to teach semantic gradients and provides examples for different subject areas at elementary and middle school grade levels. A video of students constructing a gradient is also included.
• Reading Rockets. “Semantic Features Analysis” – The article on this page shares examples of semantic feature analysis from language arts, math, science, and social studies, and provides tips for differentiating analysis instruction. Two videos of teaching compare-contrast are also included.
• Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown, and Linda Kucan. “Choosing Words to Teach.” Reading Rockets – In this excerpt from their book on robust vocabulary instruction, the authors explain, with specific examples for both younger and older learners, how to select tier II vocabulary, how to decide which words to include in a lesson, and considerations beyond tier II words.
• Florida Center for Reading Research. Florida State University – This site’s resources collection contains activity descriptions, games, and copy materials for roots and suffixes that are designed to support language and literacy learning for both developing and struggling readers.
• Cognate Linguistics. “ELT Though Cognates” – This website offers a wide range of resources related to cognates, such as English-Spanish-French-Portuguese cognates, as well as free cognate identification and highlighting technology tools.
• Kristina Robertson. “Increasing ELL Student Reading Comprehension with Non-fiction Text.” Reading Rockets – This article describes effective ways of increasing EL students’ comprehension of nonfiction expository text using evidence-based models of instruction such as the gradual release of instruction model.
• My English Pages. “Noun Phrases”  -Browse through this resource to read up on noun phrases and many other grammar points. The site also includes ideas and educational materials to support the teaching of grammar and related skills.
• Richard Nordquist. “Postmodifier (Grammar).” ThoughtCo. – Access glossaries of grammatical and rhetorical terms with a focus on understanding and using modifiers: words or groups of words that describe noun phrases or restrict meanings in some way.
• Richard Nordquist. “How to Recognize and Use Clauses in English Grammar.” ThoughtCo. – Access glossaries of grammatical terms with a focus on understanding and using dependent and independent clauses.
• Grammar Revolution. “What Are Helping Verbs and Verb Phrases.” – Access glossaries of grammatical terms and deepen your understanding of using helping verbs and verb phrases.
• Brook, Erin. “Sentence Clarity: Nominalizations and Subject Position.” Purdue OWL. – The Purdue Online Writing Lab website is widely used in colleges and secondary schools as a resource to improve writing. This article provides ideas, tips, and strategies aimed at helping students to understand nominalizations and learn how and when to use them in sentences.
• Serpinstitute.org Vocabulary Instruction – 12 Vocabulary myths debunked.

• K. Robertson. “Increasing ELL Student Reading Comprehension with Non-fiction Text.” Reading Rockets. – This article describes effective ways of increasing EL students’ comprehension of nonfiction expository text using evidence-based models of instruction such as the gradual release of instruction model.
• My English Pages. “Noun Phrases.” – Browse through this resource to read up on noun phrases and many other grammar points. The site also includes ideas and educational materials to support the teaching of grammar and related skills.
• Richard No​rdquist. “Postmodifier (Grammar).” ThoughtCo. – Access glossaries of grammatical and rhetorical terms with a focus on understanding and using modifiers: words or groups of words that describe noun phrases or restrict meanings in some way.
• Richard Nordquist. “How to Recognize and Use Clauses in English Grammar.” ThoughtCo. – Access glossaries of grammatical terms with a focus on understanding and using dependent and independent clauses.
• Grammar Revolution. “What Are Helping Verbs and Verb Phrases.” – Access glossaries of grammatical terms and deepen your understanding of using helping verbs and verb phrases.
• Erin Brook. (2015). “Sentence Clarity: Nominalizations and Subject Position.” Purdue OWL.– The Purdue Online Writing Lab website is widely used in colleges and secondary schools as a resource to improve writing. This article provides ideas, tips, and strategies aimed at helping students to understand nominalizations and learn how and when to use them in sentences.

• Akhondi, Masoumeh, Faramarz Aziz Malayeri, and Arshad Abd Samad. “How to Teach Expository Text Structure to Facilitate Reading Comprehension.” Reading Teacher 64, no. 5 (February 2011): 368–72. – Read this practitioner-oriented article to find out about how to teach upper elementary grade students to develop an awareness of how information is organized in expository texts, and how to use knowledge of text structure to facilitate reading comprehension
• Dymock, Susan. “Teaching Expository Text Structure Awareness.” Reading Teacher 59, no. 2 (October 2005): 177–81. – In this article learn about four common expository text structures and how you can teach them to your students to help them develop an understanding of text structure. 
• Peregoy, Suzanne F., and Owen F. Boyle. “English Learners Reading English: What We Know, What We Need to Know.” Theory into Practice 39 4 (Fall 2000): 237–47. – This article explains important English reading processes among native and non-native English speakers, along with recommendations for teaching English learners to read and understand texts in English. 
• Read, Sylvia, D. Ray Reutzel, and Parker C. Fawson. “Do You Want to Know What I Learned? Using Informational Trade Books as Models to Teach Text Structure.” Early Childhood Education 36, no. 3 (December 2008): 213–19. – Read this article find out how to use “well-structured” expository trade book titles to teach text structure to your students. A lesson plan template and an extended example of an explicit lesson on order/sequence are provided.  
• Williams, Joanna P. “Instruction in Reading Comprehension for Primary-Grade Students: A Focus on Text Structure.” Journal of Special Education 39, no. 1 (2005): 6–18. – This article explains how teaching the text structure compare/contrast through clue words, discussions, vocabulary development, graphic organizers, and summary writing facilitated reading comprehension in at-risk second and third grade students. 
• Williams, Joanna P., et al. “Close Analysis of Texts with Structure (CATS): An Intervention to Teach Reading Comprehension to At-Risk Second Graders.” Journal of Educational Psychology 108, no. 8 (March 2016): 1061–77. – Read this article to learn about how to teach the five basic text structures (sequence, comparison, cause-effect, description, and problem-solution), along with linguistic signals (clue words such as but, finally, because; graphic organizers; and generic questions that help students focus on essential textual information. 

• Additional Resources
  • Explanation of text structures
    • Flocabulary – Short explanation of text structures video in rap form.
  • Comparison
    • Youtube Video – Animation that explains the development of textual narrative and the creation of mental images through the use of comparisons in the text construction process. Guides on the use of similarities to support the narrative.
  • Problem and solution with text structure organization 
    • Youtube Video – Animation that explains the placement of ideas during the text construction process. It guides on writing about the cause and effect relationship and the development of solutions to problems.

• Websites, Apps, and Podcasts for Teaching Vocabulary, Spelling, and Grammar to English Learners
  •  Busuu. – The free version of this gamified mobile app helps users to learn three thousand words from a variety of topics.
  • Duolingo. – This gamified freemium app is organized by topics that are further divided into isolated grammar and vocabulary lessons.
  • Education.com. “Sentence Builder: Proper Nouns.” – This website offers an interactive game designed to promote students’ use of grammar knowledge to build correct sentences. Other grammar points such as pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs are also available.
  •  ESL HELP! Desk. “English Grammar HELP and Podcasts for the Inquisitive ESL Student: We’re Interactive!” – Through its Library link, the website offers written grammar explanations as well as podcasts about grammar points for English learners. The free podcasts can also be downloaded directly from Apple iTunes.
  • English Page. “Free Online English Lessons and ESL/EFL Resources.”  – This website offers comprehensive tutorials on various grammar points.
  • One Stop English.  – This website presents grammar tutorials, such as nouns and noun phrases, as well as lesson plans for various grade levels.
  • Phrasalstein. “Phrasalstein: Phrasal Verbs Horror.” Cambridge University Press. – This app, available for Apple and Android devices, gives students the opportunity to learn the meanings of phrasal verbs and test their understanding. Translations are available in five languages.
  • English Banana.  – This website provides free podcasts that teach idioms in ten minutes and others that focus on grammar points.
  • University of Victoria English Language Center. “Study Zone.” University of Victoria.  – This website provides leveled grammar, reading, and vocabulary lessons and exercises as well as puzzles that use or focus on language appropriate for five different proficiency levels.
  • Woodward English. “Tag Archives: Grammar.”  – Many of the grammar points on this website have an explanation, an online game, and worksheets and answers. Use this site for assessing your students’ knowledge or to preview for yourself the grammar point you are going to teach next.
  • Grammarly’s Grammar Tips – Grammarly is a large website with lots of grammar help! Their tips page includes advice on punctuation, techniques, style, and more.
  • Grammar Gorillas at Funbrain. – Lower-level ELs can play this fun game matching subjects and verbs while advanced-level ELs can match all parts of speech.
  • Easy Grammar Exercises for Beginning ELs. – Over 25 easy grammar practice links with    many questions on adjectives, yes/no questions, verb tenses, noun clauses, modals, and many more!
  • English Media Lab – Intermediate-Level ESL Quizzes and Games. 

• Websites, Apps, and Podcasts for Teaching Vocabulary, Spelling, and Grammar (not specifically for ELs)
  • No Red Ink. – This website offers adaptive grammar and writing exercises on the most common errors. Each tutorial includes a diagnostic assessment, a practice activity, and a quiz. A free account is required. The site also offers a paid membership version.
  • Hunter College Rockowitz Writing Center. “Grammar and Mechanics.” City University of New York. – This website provides explanations and examples of correct and incorrect sentence structure, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, articles and determiners, nouns and pronouns, prepositions, punctuation and capitalization, spelling, and vocabulary.
  • Simmons, Robin L. “Grammar Bytes! Grammar Instruction with Attitude.” –  This website defines grammar terms, offers exercises, and provides a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) about grammar.
  • Khan Academy. – On this website, you will find screencast tutorials on a wide variety of grammar and writing topics. Some resources come with a unit test at the beginning that pinpoints the lesson a learner should watch based on the test results.
  • Brain Pop. “Grammar.”  – This section of the popular Brain Pop website offers tutorials and quizzes on common issues, such as the distinction between their, they’re, and there.

• Websites, Apps, and Podcasts for Creating Mini-Lessons
  • Explain Everything. – This app allows teachers to create screencasts and share them with others. The paid membership for educators starts at five users and costs $24.95 per year. The app is available for Apple, Android, and Microsoft devices.
  • Doceri. – This app allows teachers to create, control, and present tutorials on their tablets or desktop computers. The desktop license is $30; the iPad and Windows apps are free.
  • Screencast-O-Matic. – This website allows teachers to create and save video recordings of their computer screen, the webcam, or both at the same time. The free version is limited to fifteen minutes. Additional features, including editing and longer recordings, are available for single users in the pro version for $18/year.

• Kristina Robertson. “Improving Writing Skills: ELLs and the Joy of Writing.” Colorín Colorado. – In this article, the author explains how to differentiate writing activities for English learners at different proficiency levels through the Language Experience Approach, quick writes, or writing cinquain poems.
• Santa Barbara City College Writing Center. “Common Error Types for English Language Learners.” – This handout, provided to writing tutors, lists the twenty most common errors found in papers written by English learners.
• Leanne Zainer. “Prioritizing Common Sentence-Level Errors.” University of Minnesota Writing Center. – Read this article to find out about a wide range of common errors made by students, including English learners.
• Paul Shoebottom. “Understanding Written Mistakes.” Frankfurt International School. – This article points out the types of errors English learners make most often and provides practice exercises to correct them. Review the identification of errors and the general description of writing levels of writing samples under the “Mistakes Analysis” link for a better understanding of proficiency level abilities.

• “General Graphic Organizers Worksheets.” www.teach-nology.com. – This site offers a well-categorized collection of ready-to-use graphic organizers designed for K–12 teachers for reading, science, writing, and math classes, as well as for general classroom use. Blank printable templates like graph paper, dot arrays, and other useful diagrams can be downloaded.
• Inspiration Software, Inc. “Visual Learning Overview.” – Teachers and students can use this commercial software for visual learning to create graphic organizers along with other visual materials as they brainstorm ideas, gather information, arrange materials, and find connections. The tool requires a license, which many schools have.
• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. “Graphic Organizers.” – This website provides free graphic organizers for teachers to print and copy for the classroom. These can be used not only for writing projects but also for activities such as vocabulary building and brainstorming. All the graphic organizers listed are available in English and Spanish.
• Judie Haynes. “Graphic Organizers for Content Instruction.” EverythingESL. – This site contains downloadable graphic organizers to support EL student reading and writing of various types of texts.
• Katherine S. McKnight. (2010). The Teacher’s Big Book of Graphic Organizers: 100 Reproducible Organizers That Help Kids with Reading, Writing, and the Content Areas. Jossey-Bass. – This book includes graphic organizers for use before, during, and after learning activities across the content areas.
• Jennifer Jacobson and Dottie Raymer. (1999). The Big Book of Reproducible Graphic Organizers: 50 Great Templates to Help Kids Get More Out of Reading, Writing, Social Studies and More. Scholastic. – This strategies book includes fifty reproducible templates along with simple how-tos and student samples
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Additional Resources

• Jodidurgin – Use of mental schemes and conceptual maps to help children in the process of textual production. The site encourages children to organize their ideas into items before putting them in the text, helping to build arguments.