A few weeks ago I blogged about a kindergarten lesson where the students were confused by the word pause, thinking the teacher meant applause or paws. I promised that teacher I’d send her some materials about development with second language learners. I thought I’d share some of the resources I like.

Our sister site, Colorin Colorado, has an article with several good recommendations for vocabulary development with second language learners. Recommendations include intentional pre-teaching of vocabulary and focusing on when possible.

This article by Isabel Beck and colleagues is one of my favorites on Reading Rockets. It includes lots of good, solid examples of their methodology for vocabulary instruction.

I also like this longer, but still practical piece titled Integrated Vocabulary Instruction for diverse learners in grades K-5. Many of their recommendations build on experts in the field, including Nagy and August. It includes several good .

Last, the National Literacy Panel’s 2006 report “Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners” executive summary and full report describe the balance between oral proficiency and literacy in the first language as a facilitator to literacy development in English.

I hope those are helpful resources.

About the Author

Joanne Meier has more than 20 years of experience in the field of education, including serving on the faculty at the University of Virginia for six years where she trained reading specialists and future classroom teachers. Dr. Meier was Reading Rockets’ research-to-practice consultant from 2002 to 2014, where she wrote the Page by Page blog — sharing best practices in supporting young readers at home and in the classroom.

Publication Date
February 26, 2008

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