I’ve observed a lot of different variations of instruction in the ESOL elementary setting - some more effective than others. An effective instructional sequence requires a strategic approach that builds on students' existing linguistic skills while gradually introducing new concepts. There are instructional steps teachers can take to ensure students are learning and applying literacy and language skills within the classroom setting. It is essential that students practice using language orally and in writing in the ESOL setting and in the regular education classroom setting.
There are some steps teachers can take to ensure an effective literacy instructional sequence for ESOL learners - what should be taught, when, and why. Strategies are aligned with each step to support the application of skills in practice.
Practice 1: Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. This should be one of the first steps in the instructional sequence, as it lays the foundation for understanding the relationship between sounds and letters. Developing phonemic awareness is crucial for reading, speaking, and writing success. Phonemic awareness supports students in understanding that words are made up of individual sounds, which is a skill required before phonics instruction.
Strategies:
Rhyming Games: Use rhyming words and songs to help students recognize and produce rhyming words.
Sound Matching: Play games where students identify words that start or end with the same sound.
Segmenting and Blending: Practice breaking words into individual sounds and blending sounds to make words using physical movement like clapping or tapping.
Practice 2: Phonics
Phonics involves teaching the relationship between letters and sounds to help students decode written words. Phonics instruction is essential for helping students understand how letters and sounds form words, which is key to reading and writing. Phonics instruction comes after students have developed basic phonemic awareness. If your students have already mastered phonemic awareness, phonics should be the first part of instruction provided and practiced.
Strategies:
Letter-Sound Correspondence: Introduce the most common letter-sound correspondences first, using visual aids and repetition.
Decodable Texts: Use books and materials that contain the phonics patterns students are learning.
Interactive Activities: Incorporate hands-on activities such as magnetic letters, letter tiles, and word building exercises.
Practice 3: Vocabulary Development
Vocabulary instruction involves teaching the meanings of words and how to use them in context. This doesn’t mean definition memorization but the application of new vocabulary. A rich vocabulary is critical for reading comprehension, but also effective spoken and written communication. It helps students understand texts and express themselves clearly. Vocabulary development should be integrated throughout the instructional sequence. Students will have more success with applying and retaining new vocabulary when it relates to content and/or literature they are learning. Additionally, practicing the vocabulary with structured oracy frames supports their application of new vocabulary terms.
Strategies:
Contextual Learning: Introduce new vocabulary in context using stories, pictures, and real-life situations.
Semantic Mapping: Create word maps that connect new vocabulary to known words and concepts.
Interactive Word Walls: Develop word walls that students can interact with and refer to during writing and reading activities. These word walls can include images, examples/nonexamples, and/or the words used in context (not just the definition).
Practice 4: Grammar
Language instruction focuses on the unique challenges faced by non-native speakers, such as differences in grammar, pronunciation, and cultural context. Grammar instruction is focused on language acquisition, including scaffolding and modeling. Explicit grammar instruction helps students build the foundational language skills necessary for academic success and integration into students’ spoken and written language.
Strategies:
Contextualized Grammar Instruction: Instead of teaching grammar rules in isolation, integrate grammar lessons into reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities. For instance, when reading a story, highlight and discuss the use of past tense verbs. In writing activities, they can focus on sentence structure and verb agreement. This method helps students see the practical application of grammar, making it meaningful and relevant.
Interactive and Communicative Activities: Using interactive and communicative activities encourages students to practice grammar in a more engaging and practical way. Activities like role-plays, group discussions, games, and peer teaching can make grammar practice relevant and enjoyable. Communicative activities also provide students with opportunities to use grammar in speaking and listening contexts, reinforcing their learning through practice in a low-stake environment.
Scaffolding with Modeling: Scaffolding involves providing temporary support to students as they learn new grammar concepts. Start by modeling correct grammar usage, then gradually release responsibility to the students through guided practice and independent activities. Provide varying levels of support, such as simplified explanations for beginners and more complex tasks for advanced students. Visual aids, sentence frames, and grammar charts are useful tools to support scaffolding.
Practice 5: Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read text accurately, quickly, and with proper expression. Fluent reading helps learners develop confidence and motivation, reduces anxiety, and allows them to engage with text more efficiently and effectively. It also improves their understanding of the natural rhythm, stress, and intonation of English, which aids in grasping nuances and meaning. By achieving fluency, learners can maintain context, enhance their vocabulary through exposure to more words in context, and engage in higher-level thinking skills necessary for deep comprehension. Focus on fluency practice once students have had explicit instruction and practice with phonics, vocabulary, and fluency.
Strategies:
Repeated Reading: Have students read the same text multiple times to build speed and accuracy. This doesn’t mean they have to read an entire text every single time they sit down to read. Chunk the reading into parts and build on reading it multiple times over a week until the whole text is read multiple times.
Echo Reading: Read a passage aloud and have students repeat it back to you.
Choral Reading: Read together as a group to build confidence and fluency.
Partner Reading: Partners take turns reading the text aloud to one another.
Practice 6: Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension involves understanding and interpreting the meaning of texts. Comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading any text - fiction or nonfiction. Comprehension strategies should be taught alongside phonics, fluency, and vocabulary development. Comprehension becomes more complex as students' reading skills improve.
Strategies:
Questioning: Teach students to ask and answer questions about the text before, during, and after reading.. Know the text you are reading and what you want students to learn before reading the text with or to students. Plan your questions in advance so that they align to the purpose of the text.
Summarizing: Practice summarizing the main ideas and details of a text. Students may require sentence frames to accomplish a summarizing task. You may also consider providing targeted vocabulary to include in the summary of a text. Vocabulary terms could be words that were taught before reading.
Graphic Organizers: Use tools like story maps, Venn diagrams, and cause-and-effect charts to help students organize text structure and important details.
Practice 7: Writing
Writing instruction involves teaching students how to express their thoughts and ideas in written form. Writing reinforces comprehension skills and helps students organize and express their independent thoughts clearly. This is an opportunity for them to apply what they’ve practiced orally into their own writing. They should be encouraged to use the phonics skills and vocabulary terms they’ve been taught and practiced orally. Writing should be incorporated throughout the instructional sequence, starting with simple sentence formation and gradually moving to more complex writing tasks.
Strategies:
Modeled Writing: Demonstrate writing tasks by thinking aloud as you write.
Sentence Frames: Provide sentence starters or frames to support students' writing.
Peer Review: Encourage students to share their writing with peers for feedback and discussion.
An effective literacy instructional sequence in the ESOL setting requires a thoughtful, layered approach. By building a strong foundation in phonemic awareness and phonics, enriching vocabulary, dissecting and applying proper grammar, fostering fluency, developing comprehension skills, and integrating writing throughout, teachers can support ESOL learners in becoming proficient, confident readers and writers. Implementing the recommended strategies will create a supportive and engaging learning environment where all students can thrive.
Final Tip
Choose accessible, relevant texts to guide instruction and application. Develop your explicit instruction for each practice to align with the text you and students are reading. If students are learning about mammals in the regular education classroom, choose a text (maybe a decodable) that is about mammals. Design your phonics, vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension instruction using the main text. This is a text students will listen to, read, discuss, and write about, so choose wisely! Finally, you do not need to include all 7 practices in one day. These practices can be implemented throughout a week's worth of lessons to provide a comprehensive and manageable approach to teaching literacy and language in the ESOL setting!
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