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.
Upper Elementary (4-6)
Closing the Gap: Addressing the Vocabulary Needs of English-Language Learners in Bilingual and Mainstream Classrooms
Carlo, M.S., August, D., McLaughlin, B., Snow, C.E., Dressler, C., Lippman, D.N., Lively, T.J., & White, C.E. (2004). Closing the gap: Addressing the vocabulary needs of English-language learners in bilingual and mainstream classrooms. Reading Research Quarterly, 39, 188-215.
Topics Covered:
About ELLs;
Access, Equity, and Adequacy;
Best Teaching Practices / Professional Development;
Bilingual Education;
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Upper Elementary (4-6);
Tags:
Bilingual Instruction;
Instructional Programs;
Intervention;
Reading;
Vocabulary;
Summary: Gaps in reading performance between Anglo and Latino children are associated with gaps in vocabulary knowledge. An intervention was designed to enhance fifth graders' academic vocabulary. The meanings of academically useful words were taught together with strategies for using information from context, from morphology, from knowledge about multiple meanings, and from cognates to infer word meaning. Among the principles underlying the intervention were that new words should be encountered in meaningful text, that native Spanish speakers should have access to the text's meaning through Spanish, that words should be encountered in varying contexts, and that word knowledge involves spelling, pronunciation, morphology, and syntax as well as depth of meaning.
Fifth graders in the intervention group showed greater growth than the comparison group on knowledge of the words taught, on depth of vocabulary knowledge, on understanding multiple meanings, and on reading comprehension. The intervention effects were as large for the English-language learners (ELLs) as for the English-only speakers (EOs), though the ELLs scored lower on all pre- and posttest measures. The results show the feasibility of improving comprehension outcomes for students in mixed ELL-EO classes, by teaching word analysis and vocabulary learning strategies.
Contexts for Engagement and Motivation in Reading
by Guthrie, John T.
Guthrie, J.T. (2001). Contexts for engagement and motivation in reading. Reading Online, 4(8). International Reading Association: Washington DC.
Topics Covered:
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Early (Pre-K);
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Early Elementary (K-3);
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Upper Elementary (4-6);
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Adolescent (7-12);
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Adult;
Tags:
Books and Other Reading Materials;
Comprehension;
Motivation;
Reading;
Struggling Readers;
Transfer of Literacy Skills;
Vocabulary;
Target Population: Preschool, Elementary, Middle, High School
Research Questions the Report Poses: How do engaged and motivated reading contribute to successful reading skills and achievement?
Summary: Engaged reading is a merger of motivation and thoughtfulness. Engaged readers seek to understand; they enjoy learning and they believe in their reading abilities. They are mastery oriented, intrinsically motivated, and have self-efficacy. Teachers create contexts for engagement when they provide prominent knowledge goals, real-world connections to reading, meaningful choices about what, when, and how to read, and interesting texts that are familiar, vivid, important, and relevant.
Findings:
The following all help to contribute to an environment that will foster motivated and engaged reading:
- Identify a knowledge goal and announce it
- Provide a brief real-world experience related to the goal
- Make trade books and multiple other resources available
- Give students some choice about the subtopics and texts for learning
- Teach cognitive strategies that empower students to succeed in reading these texts
- Assure social collaboration for learning
- Align evaluation of student work with the instructional context (e.g., grade students for progress toward the knowledge goal)
Policy Recommendations:
None, this article makes no policy recommendations but instead describes the characteristics of an engaging and motivated reading environment.
Dimensions of Children's Motivation for Reading and Their Relations to Reading Activity and Reading Achievement
Baker, L., & Wigfield, A. (1999). Dimensions of children's motivation for reading and their relations to reading activity and reading achievement. Reading Research Quarterly,34, 452-477.
Topics Covered:
Access, Equity, and Adequacy;
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Early (Pre-K);
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Early Elementary (K-3);
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Upper Elementary (4-6);
Tags:
Instructional Programs;
Intervention;
Reading;
Summary:
This study was designed to assess dimensions of reading motivation and examine how these dimensions related to students' reading activity and achievement. A heterogeneous urban sample of fifth- and sixth-grade children completed the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire (MRQ; Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997), a questionnaire designed to assess 11 possible dimensions of reading motivation, including self-efficacy, several types of intrinsic and extrinsic reading motives, social aspects of reading, and the desire to avoid reading. The students also completed several different measures of reading activity and reading achievement. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the proposed dimensions of children's reading motivation could be identified and measured reliably.
Scales based on the different dimensions related positively to one another and negatively to the desire to avoid reading. Mean scale scores on most of the dimensions differed by gender and ethnicity, with girls and African Americans reporting stronger motivation. Mean scale scores on most of the dimensions were similar for fifth- and sixth-grade students and for low and middle income students. All of the scales related to children's reports of their reading activity and several to their reading achievement. The strength of the relations between reading motivation and reading achievement was greater for girls and for white students. Cluster analyses revealed seven distinct groupings of children based on their motivational profiles that were related to reading activity and, to a lesser extent, to reading achievement. The study demonstrates that reading motivation is multidimensional and should be regarded as such in research and in practice.
Integrated Vocabulary Instruction: Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners in Grades K-5
by Camille L. Z. Blachowicz, Peter J. Fisher, Susan Watts-Taffe / Learning Point Associates
Blachowicz, C.L.Z, Watts-Taffe, S. & Fisher, P. (2005). Learning Point Associates.
Topics Covered:
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Early Elementary (K-3);
Literacy and Reading / Writing Instruction;
Upper Elementary (4-6);
Tags:
Bilingual Instruction;
Books and Other Reading Materials;
Comprehension;
Differentiated Instruction;
Instructional Programs;
Motivation;
Reading;
Struggling Readers;
Transfer of Literacy Skills;
Vocabulary;
Target Population: Elementary School
Research Questions the Report Poses: What are the different ways that vocabulary can be integrated into the classroom to teach a variety of learners?
Summary: The goal of this document is to provide the information that teachers and other educators need to implement an integrated and comprehensive approach to vocabulary instruction. Integrated means that vocabulary is a core consideration in all grades across the school and in all content areas across the school day. Comprehensive means that vocabulary instruction encompasses much more than a list of words to teach at the beginning of the week. Rather, it involves a common philosophy and shared practices, based on a solid understanding the knowledge base and supported by curricular considerations as well as classroom and school organizational procedures.
Findings:
This article does not contain research findings so much as it contains a collection of strategies and techniques for integrating vocabulary into the classroom. Some of the vocabulary areas covered are:
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Compound words
- Root words
- Using technology to teach vocabulary
Policy Recommendations:
None; this is not so much a policy document as it is a collection of strategies for teachers to use to teach vocabulary more effectively. If anything, the policy recommendation is for teachers to begin incorporating some of these techniques.
- Download full article (159KB PDF)*
To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Learning Point Associates
1100 17th Street N.W., Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036
(P): 800-252-0283
As an educator, I have found Colorín Colorado web site to be an excellent source of information for the Bilingual/Hispanic parent. Colorín Colorado is every parent's literacy coach.
~ Patricia S.
