Teachers who work with English as a Second Language learners will find ESL/ESOL/ELL/EFL reading/writing skill-building children's books, stories, activities, ideas, strategies to help PreK-3, 4-8, and 9-12 students learn to read.
Early Literacy
Frequent questions
Expert answers
I'd like to expand my classroom library to include some outstanding Spanish-language children's books. Is there an award comparable to the Newbery Medal or the Caldecott Medal for Spanish books? If so, is it possible to access a list of past winners?
The Pura Belpré Award is given biannually to a Latino/a writer and a Latino/a illustrator for outstanding works of literature that celebrate the Latino cultural experience. Like the Newbery and the Caldecott, the Pura Belpré Award is given by the Association for Library Service to Children, which is a division of the American Library Association. Some of the award-winning books are bilingual; others are available in both Spanish and English. Lists of current and past winners are available on the Pura Belpré website.
You might also want to explore the Américas Award, which is given to books in Spanish or English written in the U.S. for children or young adults. Sponsored by the national Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP), this award recognizes works that portray Latin America or Latinos in the U.S. in an authentic and engaging way. Lists of award winners can be found on the Américas Web site, along with lists of commended books and links to other excellent resources.
Another great resource is right here on the Colorín Colorado site. The Recommended Books section offers lists of great books for any occasion. Many of the books you will find are award winners, but all are carefully selected by our experts. Here you're sure to find something great for you and your students to read.
What are some fun ways to teach sight words to K-2 ELLs?
Word banks are a great way to teach sight words, especially for ELLs who are also working on building English vocabulary, and there are lots of ways to use word banks that are really fun for kids.
A word bank is a child's individual collection of known words, written on small cards and kept together in a bag or envelope so that the child can read them and play with them regularly. To collect word bank words, choose 6-10 words from each book a child reads and print them neatly on small cards. The words can represent the specific phonics features the child is studying, or they can be high frequency words, such as "what" or "then." The word cards for each book can be kept in a pocket that has been glued to the inside cover of the book so that the same cards can be used again and again with different children.
After a child has read the book at least two or three times, take out the word cards and see which ones the child can read automatically, that is, without having to spend time decoding. For each word that is read automatically, make a new word card, and add it to the child's personal word bank. As new books are read, repeat the process, adding new words to the word bank.
The word bank then becomes a source for familiar words that can be used in a variety of ways:
- Play Concentration — make a duplicate set of cards. Take turns turning cards up two at a time to find matches.
- Play Bingo — make cards with selected words from the word bank in the boxes. Call out words, and as each is read, have the child cover it with a token. Then switch places, and have the child call out the words as you cover them.
- Play Pick-Up — lay out 6-10 words from the word bank. Have the child pick up the words you name or describe. For example, "Pick up the words that rhyme with 'bat.'" or "Pick up the words that start like 'top.'"
- Do Word Sorts — find words in the child's word bank that have something in common, either related to meaning or to word features. Take out two or three groups of such words, and have the child sort them. For example, have the child sort words that refer to animals as compared to words that refer to plants, or words that start like "which" as compared to words that start like "that."
What resources are available for teachers of ELLs that are 2, 3, 4, and 5 years old? We have quite a variety of languages in our school.
You might begin by exploring the TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) website, which offers ESL standards for PreK through 12th grade. The Texas Education Agency has also published very detailed curriculum guidelines for PreK, which include guidelines for ESL students.
Explore the Colorín Colorado website for activities to use in the classroom. The Families section has many resources that would be excellent for use in the PreK classroom with ELLs from any background. The section called Fun Reading Tips and Activities, for example, has links to lots of activities that build phonological awareness and other important early literacy skills. In the Educators section, the page on Reading in Kindergarten also has many resources that would be great for PreK, as well as Kindergarten.
You can also find a wide variety of excellent activities on the PALS (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening) website. In the Activities section, under Instructional Resources, you can click on skills such as "phonological awareness" and "writing" and then choose "Prekindergarten" or "Kindergarten" to find activities specifically designed for students at those levels.
Congratulations — your material has been a tremendous to help develop reading and writing abilities for kids with cognitive disabilities.
~ Monica H.
