When I taught ESL, I used a style of discussion called the Fishbowl, which was EXTREMELY successful. We typically did these on Fridays. I can also see this type of discussion happening in general educational whole class settings or literacy centers. Included here: 1- Rubric 2- Student notes sheet with a box to write quotes and a box for sketches (great for ESL) 3- Fishbowl instructions page and accountable talk sentence starters

Included here are three tools for managing an older grade level classroom. These tools make students accountable for their own actions and worked wonders when I taught in an inner-city middle school. Hand out the "rights, responsibilities, and consequences" sheet at the beginning of the year and review thoroughly. The "behavior reflection" sheet gets handed out as needed and the "weekly behavior report" gets filled out weekly for each student. The weekly behavior report might seem like a lot of work, but it really makes a difference in the overall community feel of the classroom. Additionally, there is a "teacher evaluation sheet" included. Hand this out at a few points in the middle of the year so you can hear constructive feedback from your students about your performance. Grades aren't always given just to them! All first three documents are editable, while the teacher evaluation is not.

These 21 task cards help students practice the skill and art of writing paragraphs. Here is the breakdown of the 21 cards: 1- 10 complete the paragraph cards. Students must complete the missing sentence. A multiple choice answer sheet is provided or have students come up with their own sentences for a challenge. 2- 5 cards with scrambled paragraphs from book excerpts. Students must figure out the best order for the paragraph. An answer sheet is provided. 3- Two cards which ask students to read a short paragraph and say if there’s a sentence that goes off topic. They must explain their thinking. Answer sheet is provided. 4- Two cards which ask students to underline the topic sentence, circle a detail, and star the concluding sentence. Answer sheet is provided. 5- Two cards which have students writing their own paragraphs about a topic. An answer sheet is not provided for this.

This is a 2 week unit on careers. Students get to explore which careers might be of interest to them when they get older. They really have a lot of fun with this and don't realize how many skills they are getting in the process. You must have access to the Internet. Included are: 1- The calendar lesson plans I used 2- The PowerPoints I used 3- The careers self assessment form 4- Career profile advisory (directions on how to research careers in their assessed interests) 5- Research graphic organizer 6- Career presentation directions The goal is for students to take the assessment, research careers within that interest that maybe they hadn't thought of, choose 2, narrow it down to 1 to research further, fill out the organizer, and create a poster/oral presentation on their career. I made a grading rubric with my students, and I encourage the same!

These activities are designed to help readers visualize a little better. These activities can be used in guided reading, RtI, and/or literacy stations. Visualization is a key reading skill that will help students comprehend more challenging texts as they get older. Included are the following activities: 1- Picture activity- Put words to images 2- Drama activity- Some prep needed. You will need to prepare a few bags with objects inside 3- Descriptive Words activity- students read words and draw images they associate with those words 4- Shel Silverstein Poetry activity- Students read excerpts, draw images, and circle keywords that helped them with the images All teacher and student sheets are included!

Here is a 7 unit scope and sequence for ESL. I do not include the specific resources but all of the particulars are there to make planning a bit easier! Attached is the PDF, but I can definitely email the Excel spreadsheet if purchased. It will probably be easier to read. This was about two years of creating and tweaking. I'm happy to share and I hope you will find it of use!

This 7 day mini-unit will explore synonyms. Students should be at the high beginner-low intermediate English stages. Students will develop a definition of synonym, learn how to use a thesaurus, and will use synonyms in writing. Through studying synonyms, students will also learn new vocabulary and will practice their speaking and listening skills. This unit ends with students writing a script for a skit and performing the skit.