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EL Student Reading and Writing Skills and Strategies

Reading and Writing foundational skills for elementary level EL students: Reading and writing will be a challenge for a student but more so for English Language learners. EL students entering the school system with no or little prior schooling will be exposed to things that seem foreign to them. Learning to read will be complex especially if they have not learned to read in their native language. With the proper help and resources, it can be done. There are five strategies that must be used in order for the students to be able to become successful readers. The following are instructional areas that are to be the prime focus; phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds. Before a student learns to read, they must understand how the sounds in words work. The relationship between a sound and its corresponding written letter is known as phonics. The students reading development will depend on ability to understand the letters and the letter patterns. This is when vocabulary is an important skill to reading. Students will learn to recognize a word and the meaning of the word. Thus, follows comprehension and fluency. Once a student is able to be taught these strategies then the process becomes less complex.

 Reading and Writing instructional strategies for elementary level EL students: Comprehension strategy instruction helps the student become an active reader who is in control of their own reading comprehension. There are seven strategies that have research-based evidence for improving text comprehension; monitoring comprehension, metacognition, graphic and semantic organizers, answering questions, generating questions, recognizing story structure, and summarizing. These strategies will help the student be aware of what they do understand and be able to identify what they don’t understand. Student will monitor their reading to ensure they understand what they are reading. Graphic organizers will help the student know where to focus during their reading. It will help students focus on text structure and will be a tool to summarize their writing. Teachers should have a word wall that displays new vocabulary words and pictures throughout the room that will help the student learn the meaning of the words. Incorporating social activities will allow students to practice the strategies will be substantial to their success.

Reading and Writing technology tools and resources appropriate for elementary EL students at different proficiency levels: Technology has been a tremendous positive influence in education. There are many different software tools that allow EL students to practice their skills and allow them to build on their language proficiency. Some examples of the tools that students can have access to are; Lexia, Starfall, ABCya, Mobymax, and Spelling City. These resources will allow students to build on reading and writing skills. Students are able to work on these based on their level of proficiency.

Grouping techniques and cooperative learning strategies conducive to elementary grade levels: Placing ELLs in the appropriate instruction group presents a variety of challenges for teachers. There are many factors that can have an effect on the grouping of the students. The students age is primary, then language proficiency level, and prior educational background. Teachers should consider placing El students with other students that will be able to lead and guide the student without being intimidating. The EL student will benefit from a group that will encourage the student to participate and work with the group. It would be unfair to group all EL students in one group because they will not have the ability to move in the direction necessary to compete an activity. Therefore, grouping with others that are in similar academic level but are more apt to motivate will be more beneficial.

Listening and speaking skills for elementary level EL students:

Oral skills are essential to a student’s language and literacy development. When a student first starts school, they need to know key phrases and expressions that can be used to communicate with the teacher and the classmates during the school day (Colorin Colorado, n.d.). Many EL students go through the silent period. The silent period is the beginning stage of English language learners. Students who enter a school system at the silent stage are doing minimal talking and some may even not speak at all. According to ESL Base, students who are being introduced to English as their second language can typically take two to six months to begin to speak. A student may understand but is still not able to put it out in words. This stage is the most difficult for the teacher and the student. It is important to understand that time and positive reassurance is necessary for the student. Incorporating strategies that will help build the students listening and speaking skills is crucial for their success. According to Colorin Colorado, Total Physical Response (TPR) activities greatly multiply the language input and output that can be handled by beginning English language learners (ELLs). TPR activities elicit whole-body responses when new words or phrases are introduced (Colorin Colorado, n.d.). Language development is most profound when instruction combines the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Incorporating vocabulary into speaking through games, music and rhymes will help the students master their goals. Therefore, incorporating different activities that will help build on all these will help build the EL proficiency levels.

Grammar and vocabulary development strategies for elementary-level EL students:

Beginning EL students might primarily copy text or fill in blanks with words from a word bank. You may often see them looking onto to their neighbor and copying what they are doing. However, they quickly build their skills enough to write definitions of vocabulary words, and or write a small paragraph. Students will need to build English vocabulary through writing. First, it consists of a lot of copying a list of words along with their definitions. Students may use pictures or symbols to help them distinguish the words and the meanings. Teachers may also implement a writing journal in which the students are given a topic each day and they can draw about the topic and provide a few sentences. Choosing writing themes with vocabulary and concepts that reflect their students’ diverse backgrounds and using teacher made word banks to write are strategies that will be beneficial. Writing projects and writing activities will be a method to practice their grammar.

Strategies for comprehensible input, feedback, building background, and student engagement:

It is important for your students to comprehend the lesson or activity that you are trying to deliver. We can not assume that all students will have the knowledge or experience as their fellow classmates. Therefore, the first step in building context and background knowledge is to examine our own preconceptions about what our students know. Not every student has been to an amusement park or a movie theater. Thus, trying to use those two as examples in a lesson may not have the full effect that you are expecting. Identifying your students background prior to building a lesson plan will help deliver the message. Try to include their personal experiences in the lesson or activity. Engaging the students with hands on activities is a great opportunity to help with building background. It is important for the students to understand. It may be necessary to make accommodations or modifications to assignments.

Grammar and vocabulary technology tools and resources appropriate for elementary EL students at different proficiency levels:

Instructional technology tools are a remarkable way to reshape curriculum. It has enabled teachers to individualize and customize lesson plans to accommodate their students. There are tools that teachers can have their students do to practice their grammar and vocabulary skills. Tools such as; Starfall, Story Time for Me, ESL Games, and ABCya are among the most common used sites. The students are able to do different activates based on their grade and proficiency level.

Reference:

Adler, C. (2018). Seven Strategies to Teach Students Text Comprehension. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/seven-strategies-teach-students-text-comprehension Colorin Colorado. (n.d.). Oral Language Development for Beginners. Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/oral-language-development-beginners ESL Base. (n.d.). The Silent Period of Second Language Acquisition. Retrieved from http://www.eslbase.com/teaching/silent-period-second-language-acquisition