T.ELL.E-gram

This month's highlights

Featured Articles

Regardless of which reading program or strategies you use in your classroom, children learn best when reading is fun! Check out Reading Motivation and Fun to find out how to promote the joy of reading in your classroom by helping students pick books that interest, educate, and entertain them.

Parent Articles

In this month's parent newsletter, the Boletín Informativo, we offered a number of articles about reading motivation in English and Spanish, including:

How to Help Your Kids Enjoy Reading (from Reading Is Fundamental)
See article in Spanish >>

What Parents Can Do: Reading Tips from Kids (On Reading Rockets)
See article in English >>
See article in Spanish >>

What to Do When Kids Hate to Read (On Reading Rockets)
See article in English >>
See article in Spanish >>

Research and Reports

In Contexts for Engagement and Motivation in Reading, John Guthrie summarizes existing research on the role of motivation in reading and describes strategies for creating classroom contexts that promote engagement with text. According to Guthrie, "engaged reading is a merger of motivation and thoughtfulness. Engaged readers seek to understand; they enjoy learning and they believe in their reading abilities."

Family Matters Related to the Reading Engagement of Latina/o Children, a 2002 report published by the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA), examines the effect of sociocultural elements on Latina/o children's engagement with reading. The report suggests that family workload, nurturance, and family culture and language are all significantly related to children's attitudes toward reading and their self-concept as readers.

Learning to Read in the Computer Age is part of a series entitled From Reading Research to Practice, edited by Jeanne Chall. Chapter 4, "Developing Reading Engagement," available online through the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), explores factors that contribute to student engagement with text, including instruction, challenge, feedback, scaffolding, interest, and learning contexts. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how computer learning can foster engagement in each of these areas.

In the Classroom

Bright Ideas that Work
Motivating ELL Student Readers

ELL teachers are in a unique position to instill a love of reading in their students. Since many ELL students are struggling readers, however, it can be difficult to motivate them to read. In this month's Bright Ideas feature, we offer a number of suggestions for motivating ELL readers, from finding readable materials to introducing students to a "culture of reading." We also provide a list of hotlinks to websites about high-low reading materials, and articles about teaching ELLs to read.

From National Geographic: High-Low Materials for Achieving Content Literacy

National Geographic's School Publishing Division has created dynamic high-low materials with ELLs in mind, many of which are designed to offer extra support to struggling readers. Materials may be part of a larger classroom set, but many are available individually. Some of the materials include:

• Language, Literacy, and Vocabulary — science/social studies books and supplementary materials designed for students with diverse language backgrounds, as well as at-risk and struggling readers. Available in English and Spanish.
• Theme Sets — A new program for grades 3-8, designed for differentiated instruction featuring standards-based science/social studies content.
• Windows on Literacy — A leveled, nonfiction reading program featuring more than 400 titles integrating science, social studies, and math content with literacy development. Includes titles in Spanish.
• Reading Expeditions — High interest non-fiction books offering students science/social studies content while developing nonfiction reading and writing strategies. More than 170 titles available.
• Content-Based Fiction — Reading program supporting comprehension skills while introducing students to story elements and structure, and modeling writing and language use.
• Explorer magazines — Classroom magazine bringing the best of National Geographic's content to students. The magazines target four grade ranges: K-1, 2-3, 4-6, and 6-8. Also available in book format.

Frequently Asked Questions

Providing interesting books at the appropriate reading level is key to helping students improve their reading. As you build your own classroom library, you may want to consider the following:

• I have several very low level readers in 5th grade that need books at their reading level. I have difficulty locating books for these students. The ones we are using seem to be too childish. Where can I find resources to use with these older students?
• Where can I find a list of suggested titles in Spanish for independent or shared reading?

Find the answers to these and many other Frequently Asked Questions about teaching ELLs on Colorín Colorado.

Achieving Success: From the Heart

Sarah Harbert is a teacher of English language learners at Clinton Young Elementary School in Indianapolis, IN. She is now in her third year of teaching at the school, and in that time has developed a reading and tutoring program for her students, as well as an innovative book-lending program designed to get students to read more at home. In this interview with Colorín Colorado, Sarah describes her program, how she motivates her students to read, and why she believes her program is working.

Beyond the Classroom

Book of the Month

The Snowy Day
By Ezra Jack Keats

The Snowy Day is the simple and endearing tale of a boy celebrating a recent snowfall with a day of adventures around his beautiful, snowy neighborhood. Beloved by generations of readers, this classic is considered one of the greatest children's books ever published. This book is also available in Spanish.

In a Word: Prereading

This month's glossary term refers to activities used with students before they interact with reading material. They're designed to provide students with needed background knowledge about a topic, or to help students identify their purpose for reading.

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