The concept of close reading has not been without debate, and so I will first provide an overview of what close reading is and could mean for ELLs, including some definitions of close reading. Then I'll present the role of background knowledge, which is a major consideration with teaching ELLs close reading, and share some recommended resources.

Julie Motta walks through a read-aloud activity for first grade and highlights how she engaged the students with the story, brought in content-area connections, and included informal assessment to check comprehension.

This website provides an overview of principles of effective vocabulary instruction as well as ideas for vocabulary study geared specifically towards supporting English language learners.

It's an issue that teachers, district leaders, policymakers, and curriculum writers seem to continue to struggle with when considering how best to teach ELLs within a CCSS-based framework.

Fluency is the ability to read words accurately and automatically with expression. Because fluent readers do not have to slow down in order to concentrate on decoding the individual words in a text, they can focus their attention on the text's meaning. In this way, fluency acts as a bridge between word recognition and comprehension, and this relationship is reciprocal. That is, when a student understands the meaning of the text he/she is reading, it is much easier to read that text with expression.

English language learners (ELLs) may have some difficulty identifying the main idea when they are reading a paragraph. Teaching students how to paraphrase can help them learn to pick out what is important in the material that they read.

Critical thinking is the process of actively analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing information gathered from a variety of sources, using a framework designed to lend structure and clarity to the thinking process.

English language learners, who are challenged by learning a new language and new content in that language at the same time. Teachers can help prepare ELL students to successfully work with non-fiction, (or expository) text, however, in many ways — and the earlier the better.

Pre-reading activities may be designed to motivate student interest, activate prior knowledge, or pre-teach potentially difficult concepts and vocabulary. This is also a great opportunity to introduce comprehension components such as cause and effect, compare and contrast, personification, main idea, sequencing, and others.

Phonics instruction is a critical component of literacy instruction for older ELLs who are learning to read in English. Learn how to choose activities that are both age-appropriate and fun by tying instruction to the academic content that middle and high school students need to master.

In this article, Kristina Robertson highlights ELL instructional strategies based on key reading components and skills. In addition, educators will learn more about the role of students' home language and oral language. This article is part of our guide on Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners.

Learn more about ways to improve the reading skills of your middle and high school English language learners.

The Common Core State Standards are national standards that indicate what K-12 students are expected to learn in math and the English language arts. The standards themselves are lengthy and span K-12, but it's important for parents to understand the goals of the standards and ways to support school instruction at home.

For English language learners (ELLs), learning how to use a textbook can be a powerful tool in increasing their comprehension of material in all of their academic work and particularly in the content areas. In order to help you get started building this skill, this article offers some strategies for teaching the parts of a textbook, the organization of a chapter within a textbook, as well as a strategy for previewing content with a "chapter walk."

Susan Lenski and Frances Verbruggen offer strategies focused on how to teach and assess spelling with ELLs, including discussion on error correction. The authors have created a hypothetical school setting based on their extensive research and observations in classrooms around the country, presenting educators' questions and challenges, as well as their collaborative conversations with colleagues.

Learn how educators in upper elementary, middle grades, and high school can support their English learners' vocabulary development with these strategies.

Cognates are words in two languages that share a similar meaning, spelling, and pronunciation. While English may share very few cognates with a language like Chinese, 30-40% of all words in English have a related word in Spanish. For Spanish-speaking ELLs, cognates are an obvious bridge to the English language. This article includes a list of cognates as well as ideas for using them in the classroom.

Graphic organizers are a great tool to use when teaching English language learners (ELLs). Visual illustrations allow ELLs to better understand the material while learning important vocabulary.

In this final post, I'll now turn to some instructional strategies to support ELLs at the middle school level as they work with an element of one of the CCSS writing anchor standards. I'll conclude with some resources on writing for ELLs.

Writing poetry is a great exercise for English language learners. It gives them a chance to experiment with language and vocabulary, and to freely share their ideas without the confinement of perfect grammar or firm structures. Here are some suggestions for getting started from Kristina Robertson, as well as different kinds of poems to try!