Saturday, January 17, 2015

Best FREE ESL, ELL,TOEFL Website for Students and Teachers

Top 10 ESL, ELL,TOEFL Websites Resources 

English ESL and ELL Language Resources

BBC Learning English - Learning English www.bbc.com/learningenglish British Broadcasting Corporation Comprehensive materials for intermediate to advanced ESL learners from the BBCWorld Service. Uses simplified news stories to present English in context ...

Learning English - Grammar, Vocabulary ... - BBC www.bbc.co.uk/.../learningenglish/lang...
British Broadcasting Corporation Free videos, recordings and quizzes to help you learn about and practise English pronunciation. Pronunciation. Introduction. Learn about Pronunciation ...

BBC Learning - English: Free resources and online ourses  www.bbc.co.uk/learning/.../english.shtm...British Broadcasting Corporation
Learn English online with this guide to English learning websites: revisions and free courses in creative writing, grammar and spelling.

Learning English - 6 Minute English - BBC 

Connect With English Videos  http://www.learner.org/resources/series71.html A video instructional series in English as a second language for college and high school classrooms and adult learners; 50 fifteen-minute video programs and coordinated books

Activities for ESL Students http://a4esl.org Quizzes, tests, exercises and puzzles to help you learn English as a Second Language (ESL) This project of The Internet TESL Journal (iteslj.org) has thousands of contributions by many teachers.

Karin's ESL Partyland http://www.eslpartyland.com Looking for more great ideas and materials to use in class? Teaching Integrated Skills offers you content-based classroom activities on a wide range of topics.

ESLAmerica.US http://www.eslamerica.us/ THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WEBSITE WHERE EVERYTHING HAS SOUND!

English Page http://www.englishpage.com/ Learn English using our in-depth English tutorials featuring dozens of interactive exercises:

Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab http://www.esl-lab.com General Listening Quizzes
[ Listen to Everyday Conversations with Adult and Children's Voices ]

Purdue University's Online Writing Lab http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ We offer over 200 free resources including:
  • Writing and Teaching Writing
  • Research
  • Grammar and Mechanics
  • Style Guides
  • ESL (English as a Second Language)
  • Job Search and Professional Writing



Free ESL and Ell Pennington Assessments 

BASIC WORDS YOU MUST MASTER IN ENGLISH!

This is a list of the 850 words in the Basic English core vocabulary. These words all denote simple concepts commonly used in everyday life.  Charles Kay Ogden 

Wiki Appendix:Basic English word list


Operations - 100 words

come, get, give, go, keep, let, make, put, seem, take, be, do, have, say, see, send, may, will, about, across, after, against, among, at, before, between, by, down, from, in, off, on, over, through, to, under, up, with, as, for, of, till, than, a, the, all, any, every, no, other, some, such, that, this, I, he, you, who, and, because, but, or, if, though, while, how, when, where, why, again, ever, far, forward, here, near, now, out, still, then, there, together, well, almost, enough, even, little, much, not, only, quite, so, very, tomorrow, yesterday, north, south, east, west, please, yes.

400 general words

A-F
account, act, addition, adjustment, advertisement, agreement, air, amount, amusement, animal, answer, apparatus, approval, argument, art, attack, attempt, attention, attraction, authority, back, balance, base, behavior, belief, birth, bit, bite, blood, blow, body, brass, bread, breath, brother, building, burn, burst, business, butter, canvas, care, cause, chalk, chance, change, cloth, coal, color, comfort, committee, company, comparison, competition, condition, connection, control, cook, copper, copy, cork, cotton, cough, country, cover, crack, credit, crime, crush, cry, current, curve, damage, danger, daughter, day, death, debt, decision, degree, design, desire, destruction, detail, development, digestion, direction, discovery, discussion, disease, disgust, distance, distribution, division, doubt, drink, driving, dust, earth, edge, education, effect, end, error, event, example, exchange, existence, expansion, experience, expert, fact, fall, family, father, fear, feeling, fiction, field, fight, fire, flame, flight, flower, fold, food, force, form, friend, front, fruit
G-O
glass, gold, government, grain, grass, grip, group, growth, guide, harbor, harmony, hate, hearing, heat, help, history, hole, hope, hour, humor, ice, idea, impulse, increase, industry, ink, insect, instrument, insurance, interest, invention, iron, jelly, join, journey, judge, jump, kick, kiss, knowledge, land, language, laugh, law, lead, learning, leather, letter, level, lift, light, limit, linen, liquid, list, look, loss, love, machine, man, manager, mark, market, mass, meal, measure, meat, meeting, memory, metal, middle, milk, mind, mine, minute, mist, money, month, morning, mother, motion, mountain, move, music, name, nation, need, news, night, noise, note, number, observation, offer, oil, operation, opinion, order, organization, ornament, owner

P-Z
page, pain, paint, paper, part, paste, payment, peace, person, place, plant, play, pleasure, point, poison, polish, porter, position, powder, power, price, print, process, produce, profit, property, prose, protest, pull, punishment, purpose, push, quality, question, rain, range, rate, ray, reaction, reading, reason, record, regret, relation, religion, representative, request, respect, rest, reward, rhythm, rice, river, road, roll, room, rub, rule, run, salt, sand, scale, science, sea, seat, secretary, selection, self, sense, servant, sex, shade, shake, shame, shock, side, sign, silk, silver, sister, size, sky, sleep, slip, slope, smash, smell, smile, smoke, sneeze, snow, soap, society, son, song, sort, sound, soup, space, stage, start, statement, steam, steel, step, stitch, stone, stop, story, stretch, structure, substance, sugar, suggestion, summer, support, surprise, swim, system, talk, taste, tax, teaching, tendency, test, theory, thing, thought, thunder, time, tin, top, touch, trade, transport, trick, trouble, turn, twist, unit, use, value, verse, vessel, view, voice, walk, war, wash, waste, water, wave, wax, way, weather, week, weight, wind, wine, winter, woman, wood, wool, word, work, wound, writing, year.


Nouns | Things - 201 Picture words

angle, ant, apple, arch, arm, army, baby, bag, ball, band, basin, basket, bath, bed, bee, bell, berry, bird, blade, board, boat, bone, book, boot, bottle, box, boy, brain, brake, branch, brick, bridge, brush, bucket, bulb, button, cake, camera, card, carpet, cart, carriage, cat, chain, cheese, chest, chin, church, circle, clock, cloud, coat, collar, comb, cord, cow, cup, curtain, cushion,depression, dog, door, drain, drawer, dress, drop, ear, egg, engine, eye, face, farm, feather, finger, fish, flag, floor, fly, foot, fork, fowl, frame, garden, girl, glove, goat, gun, hair, hammer, hand, hat, head, heart, hook, horn, horse, hospital, house, island, jewel, kettle, key, knee, knife, knot, leaf, leg, library, line, lip, lock, map, match, monkey, moon, mouth, muscle, nail, neck, needle, nerve, net, nose, nut, office, orange, oven, parcel, pen, pencil, picture, pig, pin, pipe, plane, plate, plough, pocket, pot, potato, prison, pump, rail, rat, receipt, ring, rod, roof, root, rug, sail, school, scissors, screw, seed, sheep, shelf, ship, shirt, shoe, skin, skirt, snake, sock, spade, sponge, spoon, spring, square, stamp, star, station, stem, stick, stocking, stomach, store, street, sun, table, tail, thread, throat, thumb, ticket, toe, tongue, tooth, town, train, tray, tree, trousers, umbrella, wall, watch, wheel, whip, whistle, window, wing, wire, worm.

Qualities - 100 descriptive words

able, acid, angry, automatic, beautiful, black, boiling, bright, broken, brown, cheap, chemical, chief, clean, clear, common, complex, conscious, cut, deep, dependent, early, elastic, electric, equal, fat, fertile, first, fixed, flat, free, frequent, full, general, good, great, grey, hanging, happy, hard, healthy, high, hollow, important, kind, like, living, long, male, married, material, medical, military, natural, necessary, new, normal, open, parallel, past, physical, political, poor, possible, present, private, probable, quick, quiet, ready, red, regular, responsible, right, round, same, second, separate, serious, sharp, smooth, sticky, stiff, straight, strong, sudden, sweet, tall, thick, tight, tired, true, violent, waiting, warm, wet, wide, wise, yellow, young.

Qualities - 50 opposites

awake, bad, bent, bitter, blue, certain, cold, complete, cruel, dark, dead, dear, delicate, different, dirty, dry, false, feeble, female, foolish, future, green, ill, last, late, left, loose, loud, low, mixed, narrow, old, opposite, public, rough, sad, safe, secret, short, shut, simple, slow, small, soft, solid, special, strange, thin, white, wrong.


Terminology defined and clarified.
ESL (English as a second language), ESOL (English for speakers of other languages), and EFL (English as a foreign language) all refer to the use or study of English by speakers with a different native language. The precise usage, including the different use of the terms ESL and ESOL in different countries, is described below. These terms are most commonly used in relation to teaching and learning English, but they may also be used in relation to demographic information. ELT (English language teaching) is a widely-used teacher-centred term, as in the English language teaching divisions of large publishing houses, ELT training, etc. The abbreviations TESL (teaching English as a second language), TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) and TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) are also used. Other terms used in this field include EAL (English as an additional language), EIL (English as an international language), ELF (English as a lingua franca), ESP (English for special purposes, or English for specific purposes), EAP (English for academic purposes). Some terms that refer to those who are learning English are ELL (English language learner), LEP (limited English proficiency) and CLD (culturally and linguistically diverse). Full Wiki Article

FREE ESL ELL READING PROGRAM 


Reading Boot Camp Overview | ESL TPR Learning Model 
Reading Boot Camp is a free open source reading program designed to teach English to an entire class/school in just 20 days! Teaching every child in your school to read English in twenty days is not only radical but saves thousands in program cost. Turning the reading establishment on its head and serving all students is a radical idea. Spending education budgets on great literature for students, instead of reading software, basal readers, reading intervention programs, and teacher in-service training is a radical idea. Insuring that all students have a real future is just a pipe dream if we stay on this path of chasing reading rainbows. Teaching ten years in high-poverty schools, with over 85% of the students at risk, has taught me we have lost our way and the establishment is broken. We buy into every program that comes down the pike promising success, yet here we are failing our most needy students. Putting great literature, poetry, and books in children’s hands is the foundation of Reading Boot Camp, not predigested workbooks, endless teacher-made photo copies, and needless busy work.  Reading Boot Camp is back to basics with a sledge hammer to the outsider. Students find it rewarding and fantastic!
The 20 Day Intervention Is Fast, Rigorous, Enriching, and Fun.

YES! STUDENTS SPEND 20 FULL DAYS BUILDING LITERACY! 
Quick Look

Reading Vocabulary Word Walls
Academic Vocabulary Word Walls
Academic Vocabulary By Grade
Alphabetics
Recitation
Peer Tutoring
Fireside Book Club
Reading Master By Grade Competition
Reading Journals

Uses with board games


Learning To Read English!

“The great object to be accomplished in reading as a rhetorical exercise is, to convey to the hearer, fully and clearly, the ideas and feelings of the writer.” McGuffey, William

Learning to read is a need that must be met with with great enthusiasm by both teacher and student.  The process is easy for most and utterly difficult for a few.  

The Five Domains of Reading 

1. Vocabulary: 
The four types of vocabulary. 
auditory, 
spoken, 
reading, 
writing

2. Phonemic Awareness:  is a subset of phonological awareness in which listeners are able to hear, identify and manipulate phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning. Separating the spoken word "cat" into three distinct phonemes, /k/, /æ/, and /t/, requires phonemic awareness.

3. Phonics : refers to a method for teaching speakers of English to read and write that language. Phonics involves teaching how to connect the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of letters (e.g., that the sound /k/ can be represented by c, k, ck, ch, or q spellings) and teaching them to blend the sounds of letters together to produce approximate pronunciations of unknown words.

4. Fluency: is the ability to read text accurately and quickly. Fluency bridges word decoding and comprehension. Comprehension is understanding what has been read. Fluency is a set of skills that allows readers to rapidly decode text while maintaining a high level of comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2001).


5. Reading Comprehension: is defined as the level of understanding of a writing

44 Phonemes are the foundation of all beginning reading programs. 

The English Alphabet Code 'Key': 
44 phonemes with their common 'sound pattern' representations:Vowels (19):
  1. |a| mat
  2. |ae| ape, baby, rain, tray, they, eight
  3. |air| square, bear
  4. |ar| jar, fast
  5. |e| peg, bread
  6. |ee| sweet, me, beach, key, pony
  7. |i| pig, wanted
  8. |ie| kite, wild, light, fly
  9. |o| log, orange
  10. |oe| bone, boat, snow
  11. |oi| coin, boy
  12. |oo| book, would, put
  13. |ow| down, house
  14. |or| fork, ball, sauce, law,
  15. |u| plug, glove
  16. |ur| burn, teacher, work, first
  17. |ue| blue, moon, screw, tune
  18. |uh| (schwa) button, computer, hidden, doctor
  19. |w| wet, wheelConsonants (25):
  20. |b| boy, rabbit
  21. |ks|gz| box exist
  22. |c|k| cat |key, duck, school
  23. |ch| chip, watch
  24. |d| dog, ladder
  25. |f| fish, coffee, photo, tough
  26. |g| gate, egg, ghost
  27. |h| hat, whole
  28. |j| jet, giant, cage, bridge
  29. |l| lip, bell, sample
  30. |m| man, hammer, comb
  31. |n| nut, dinner, knee, gnat
  32. |ng| ring, singer
  33. |p| pan, happy
  34. |kw| queen
  35. |r| rat, cherry, write
  36. |s| sun, dress, house, city, mice
  37. |sh| ship, mission, station, chef
  38. |t| tap, letter, debt
  39. |th| thrush
  40. |th| that
  41. |v| vet, sleeve
  42. |y| yes
  43. |z| zip, fizz, sneeze, is, cheese
  44. |zh| treasure
Mastering the Dolch Sight words are a key component in the learning process.

Sight words do not always follow phonemic rules and must be mastered by sight.

Sight Words: are any word that is known by a reader automatically. Sight words are the basis behind the whole-word approach to reading education. Some have suggested that sight words and the whole-word approach to reading are a significant teaching technique considering 65% of the population identify themselves as visual learners. However, the majority of recent educational research suggests that phonetic based learning strategies are more effective for languages written with alphabets, such as English. Small children are also predominantly visual learners and can therefore learn to read more effectively using sight words and the whole-word approach, if their language has an ideographic or syllabic writing system, such as Japanese or Chinese. Scientific studies have also shown that children with learning difficulties such as Dyslexia, Autism or Down syndrome are also visual learners, and therefore also read words as pictures[citation needed]. In learning to read via the sight words, readers begin to understand that a word represents a 'thing'. wiki article

PRESCHOOL: a, and, away, big, blue, can, come, down, find, for, funny, go, help, here, I, in, is, it, jump, little, look, make, me, my, not, one, play, red, run, said, see, the, three, to, two, up, we, where, yellow, you

KINDERGARTEN: all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, did, do, eat, four, get, good, have, he, into, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, there, they, this, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes

1st Grade: after, again, an, any, as, ask, by, could, every, fly, from, give, giving, had, has, her, him, his, how, just, know, let, live, may, of, old, once, open, over, put, round, some, stop, take, thank, them, then, think, walk, were, when

2nd Grade: always, around, because, been, before, best, both, buy, call, cold, does, don't, fast, first, five, found, gave, goes, green, its, made, many, off, or, pull, read, right, sing, sit, sleep, tell, their, these, those, upon, us, use, very, wash, which, why, wish, work, would, write, your

3rd Grade: about, better, bring, carry, clean, cut, done, draw, drink, eight, fall, far, full, got, grow, hold, hot, hurt, if, keep, kind, laugh, light, long, much, myself, never, only, own, pick, seven, shall, show, six, small, start, ten, today, together, try, warm

Nouns: apple, baby, back, ball, bear, bed, bell, bird, birthday, boat, box, boy, bread, brother, cake, car, cat, chair, chicken, children, Christmas, coat, corn, cow, day, dog, doll, door, duck, egg, eye, farm, farmer, father, feet, fire, fish, floor, flower, game, garden, girl, good-bye, grass, ground, hand, head, hill, home, horse, house, kitty, leg, letter, man, men, milk, money, morning, mother, name, nest, night, paper, party, picture, pig, rabbit, rain, ring, robin, Santa Claus, school, seed, sheep, shoe, sister, snow, song, squirrel, stick, street, sun, table, thing, time, top, toy, tree, watch, water, way, wind, window, wood

The articulated/spoken daily vocabulary of Americans is 1000-2000 words for non college educated adults and 2000-3000 words for college educated adults. 
  • 107 words make up over 50% of the words you read! 
  • 1000 words make up 75-80% of the words you read! 
  • 5,000 words make up 85-90% of the words you read!

Learning Vocabulary 
  • Indirectly. Children learn the meanings of most words indirectly, through everyday experiences with oral and written language--e.g., through conversations with adults, through being read to, and through reading extensively on their own. 
  • Directly. Children learn vocabulary directly when they are explicitly taught both individual words and word-learning strategies. 
  • Vocabulary refers to the words we must know to communicate effectively in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Vocabulary plays an important part in learning to read. Children use words in their oral vocabulary to make sense of the words they see in print. 
  • Vocabulary is also important in reading comprehension. Readers cannot understand what they are reading unless they know what most of the words mean.
  • Find great literature and dive in.

Irregular English Verbs
Base Form

awake
Simple Past Tense

awoke
Past Participle

awoken
be
was, were
been
bear
bore
born
beat
beat
beat
become
became
become
begin
began
begun
bend
bent
bent
beset
beset
beset
bet
bet
bet
bid
bid/bade
bid/bidden
bind
bound
bound
bite
bit
bitten
bleed
bled
bled
blow
blew
blown
break
broke
broken
breed
bred
bred
bring
brought
brought
broadcast
broadcast
broadcast
build
built
built
burn
burned/burnt
burned/burnt
burst
burst
burst
buy
bought
bought
cast
cast
cast
catch
caught
caught
choose
chose
chosen
cling
clung
clung
come
came
come
cost
cost
cost
creep
crept
crept
cut
cut
cut
deal
dealt
dealt
dig
dug
dug
dive
dived/dove
dived
do
did
done
draw
drew
drawn
dream
dreamed/dreamt
dreamed/dreamt
drive
drove
driven
drink
drank
drunk
eat
ate
eaten
fall
fell
fallen
feed
fed
fed
feel
felt
felt
fight
fought
fought
find
found
found
fit
fit
fit
flee
fled
fled
fling
flung
flung
fly
flew
flown
forbid
forbade
forbidden
forget
forgot
forgotten
forego (forgo)
forewent
foregone
forgive
forgave
forgiven
forsake
forsook
forsaken
freeze
froze
frozen
get
got
gotten
give
gave
given
go
went
gone
grind
ground
ground
grow
grew
grown
hang
hung
hung
hear
heard
heard
hide
hid
hidden
hit
hit
hit
hold
held
held
hurt
hurt
hurt
keep
kept
kept
kneel
knelt
knelt
knit
knit
knit
know
knew
know
lay
laid
laid
lead
led
led
leap
leaped/leapt
leaped/leapt
learn
learned/learnt
learned/learnt
leave
left
left
lend
lent
lent
let
let
let
lie
lay
lain
light
lighted/lit
lighted
lose
lost
lost
make
made
made
mean
meant
meant
meet
met
met
misspell
misspelled/misspelt
misspelled/misspelt
mistake
mistook
mistaken
mow
mowed
mowed/mown
overcome
overcame
overcome
overdo
overdid
overdone
overtake
overtook
overtaken
overthrow
overthrew
overthrown
pay
paid
paid
plead
pled
pled
prove
proved
proved/proven
put
put
put
quit
quit
quit
read
read
read
rid
rid
rid
ride
rode
ridden
ring
rang
rung
rise
rose
risen
run
ran
run
saw
sawed
sawed/sawn
say
said
said
see
saw
seen
seek
sought
sought
sell
sold
sold
send
sent
sent
set
set
set
sew
sewed
sewed/sewn
shake
shook
shaken
shave
shaved
shaved/shaven
shear
shore
shorn
shed
shed
shed
shine
shone
shone
shoe
shoed
shoed/shod
shoot
shot
shot
show
showed
showed/shown
shrink
shrank
shrunk
shut
shut
shut
sing
sang
sung
sink
sank
sunk
sit
sat
sat
sleep
slept
slept
slay
slew
slain
slide
slid
slid
sling
slung
slung
slit
slit
slit
smite
smote
smitten
sow
sowed
sowed/sown
speak
spoke
spoken
speed
sped
sped
spend
spent
spent
spill
spilled/spilt
spilled/spilt
spin
spun
spun
spit
spit/spat
spit
split
split
split
spread
spread
spread
spring
sprang/sprung
sprung
stand
stood
stood
steal
stole
stolen
stick
stuck
stuck
sting
stung
stung
stink
stank
stunk
stride
strod
stridden
strike
struck
struck
string
strung
strung
strive
strove
striven
swear
swore
sworn
sweep
swept
swept
swell
swelled
swelled/swollen 
swim
swam
swum
swing
swung
swung
take
took
taken
teach
taught
taught
tear
tore
torn
tell
told
told
think
thought
thought
thrive
thrived/throve
thrived
throw
threw
thrown
thrust
thrust
thrust
tread
trod
trodden
understand
understood
understood
uphold
upheld
upheld
upset
upset
upset
wake
woke
woken
wear
wore
worn
weave
weaved/wove
weaved/woven
wed
wed
wed
weep
wept
wept
wind
wound
wound
win
won
won
withhold
withheld
withheld
withstand
withstood
withstood
wring
wrung
wrung
write
wrote
written

Verb
Preposition
Synonym
ask
out
ask someone to go on a date 
call 
back
return a telephone call 
call 
off
cancel 
call
on
ask to speak in class 
call
up
make a telephone call 
cross 
out
draw a line through 
do
over
do again 
figure 
out
find the solution to a problem 
fill
in
complete a sentence by writing in a blank 
fill 
out
write information in a form (e.g. an application form) 
fill
up
fill completely with gas, water, coffee, etc. 
find
out
discover information 
get 
in
enter a car, a taxi 
get
off
leave a bus, an airplane, a train, a subway, a bicycle 
get 
on
enter a bus, an airplane, a train, a subway, a bicycle 
get
over
recover from an illness 
give
back
return something to someone 
give
up
quit doing something or quit trying 
hand 
in
give homework, tests, papers, etc., to a teacher 
hand 
out
give something to this person, then that person, then another person, etc. 
hang
up
  1. hang on a hanger or a hook; 
  2. end a telephone call 
keep 
on
continue 
leave
out
omit 
look
up
look for information in a reference book 
make 
up
invent 
pay
back
return money to someone 
pick
up
lift 
put
away 
put something in its usual or proper place 
put
back
return something to its original place 
put
down
stop holding or carrying 
put 
off
postpone 
put
on
put clothes on one's body 
put 
out
extinguish (stop) a fire, a cigarette, a cigar 
run
into
meet by chance 
shut
off
stop a machine or light, turn off 
start
over
start again 
take
off
remove clothes from one's body 
tear
down
destroy a building 
tear
off
detach, tear along a dotted or perforated line 
tear 
up
tear into small pieces 
throw
away/out
put in the trash 
try
on
put on clothing to see if it fits 
turn 
down
decrease the volume 
turn 
off
stop a machine or a light, shut off 
turn
on
begin a machine or a light 
turn
up
increase the volume 
wake
up
stop sleeping 
write
down
write a note on a piece of paper 


Mandarin Chinese 

Printable PDF Mandarin Flashcards


Amazing ESL and ESL Success Stories! 

Amazing Omar My ESL Student and Harry Potter
Omar was new to America, new to English, and new to sixth grade. As an entering student, we completed a reading inventory and he tested at the beginning first grade level, which is better than most for someone new to any language. This went over like a lead balloon with Omar and his scores embarrassed him. He asked what he could do to improve his reading level. I explained his reading scores were good for someone learning a new language. He was not satisfied with that answer and asked again what he needed to do to improve. I explained that he should find a challenging book that he was passionate Omar’s Miraculous Method to read. I gave him my standard story of inspiration, perseverance and the overcoming of adversity, but he was not going for that. He wanted concrete advice on what he needed to do and know. He already knew exactly what he wanted to read: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. He was so proud to have an English copy of the book that he gave the librarian a bit of a dejected look when she suggested he read the Spanish version. He couldn't wait to get started. I said the first few chapters would seem impossible to read, but once he started understanding the vocabulary of the author, it would get easier. He would have to spend hours using the Spanish and English dictionaries to make sense of all the new vocabulary. I told him to write down all the words he needed further help with and told him to bug me, the librarian, and everyone to help with the vocabulary. I showed him how to write a story map to help with his understanding, and said it's important to write down all the words that he did not know, so he could get help later. Omar had such an incredible desire to learn that he needed none of my inspirational blather, just the hard practicality of best methods and lots of old-fashioned help. One minute into the book, Omar asked me how to pronounce a word, and if his understanding of the phrase was correct. We continued with our reading of Harry Potter for the next several weeks. Our state has a law requiring all English language learners had to attend an ESL program for English acquisition. It starts a few weeks after school begins. Omar went to his first ESL class with his Harry Potter book in tow, ready and excited to learn English, but within a few minutes I received a call from his teacher who told me he could not read Harry Potter because it was above his reading level. I explained that I never tell students they can't read a book that they have a passion to read. On the contrary, I encourage students to read challenging material and would do everything in my power to help Omar be successful with his choice.

Omar wanted fast results in reading and writing with no concern for work load. We decided to read two chapters of Harry Potter per day one in school and one at home. To speed the acquisition of English we worked on reading and writing at the same time. Everything we read as a class or at home we would analyze and journal about. We wrote vocabulary, notes and chapter summaries for the chapters read in class and story maps for the chapter we read at home. Omar set the pace for my first year teaching sixth grade.
The entire class had to read Harry Potter and they followed what we laid out at the beginning to help Omar acquire reading and writing of English. Some parents and students balked at the work load and being forced to read Harry Potter. I just told parents if they didn’t like the work load and Harry Potter they should take their scholars to the middle school. Being that I was the only sixth grade teacher with 31 students, I had no
patience for whiney parents and kids. It might sound heartless but when I took over the sixth grade class it was the worst performing class in the district. The passing rate on state exams was 20-30% for this class. I felt I was going to have to use drastic measures to get this sixth grade caught up in just one year. Most of my students jumped in feet first and found a love of reading. We did anything and everything to get kids into the stories even turning the room into Hogwarts II. In the next two years, using Omar’s methods, the lowest-performing class was now the highest. Over the next four terms, Omar gained 45 points on his NWEA MAP reading scores, equal to almost six Lexile years reading growth in one year. After two terms he was speaking and reading English better than some native speakers and exited with some glee from the ESL program. Omar finished all seven Harry Potter books and he still returns every year to tell me how he is doing. He does not seem to be worried about his high school persona (his "cool factor") when he carries his copy of the latest Harry Potter novel. He still holds the record for highest growth in reading and language. Omar is on the principal's honor roll, gets perfect scores on all his class work, and plans on attending the University of Arizona in 2012. Omar taught me that if you have the desire you can overcome what most would say
is impossible. I spent the year picking his brain trying to find his secrets to such dedication and desire to learn. I have used what he taught me to help others find their fire and passion. Omar had such fire and passion for learning and school because he came from devastating poverty and it was his dream to go to college and help his family.


Yvette, My First Teacher
Yvette was an absolute darling who could melt your heart with her infectious smile. She was so excited the first day of school and the one thing she had in mind was to read Clifford the Big Red Dog to her mom. Yvette had a new, stuffed Clifford held tightly under one arm and a tattered Clifford book under the other. She adored him and wanted to share his adventures with her mom. Yvette said her mom couldn't read to her so she wanted to learn how to read to her mom. She was so eager to learn how to read and couldn't wait to start. She spent the year with this giant smile and giggly, infectious enthusiasm. She was excited every moment of every day, sounding out words, reading sight words, and listening intently to stories, four-plus hours a day, never complaining or getting tired. The only thing that would make her pause was the need for an impromptu hug when she learned something new. She amazed and taught me more in that year than I ever taught her.

Yvette’s Marvelous Method Yvette never caught on to Phonics and its 44 sounds and rules. With her ability and the complexity of English she was lost. I was a bit lost being a first year teacher teaching in a cross-category, self-contained special-education class. I didn’t know how to teach reading let alone how to help a student, who was mentally retarded. I wanted to help her meet her goal so we tried what worked with me when phonics failed. We treated every word as a sight word and just practiced and practiced. We worked on the Dolch list first and made over seven hundred flash cards for all the words in her favorite books, great
fairy tales, and nursery rhymes. We read the stories and drilled the flash cards over and over. We spent three and even four hours a day reading words, writing words, and reading stories to meet her goal. When you spend that much time on one goal there is no option but a miracle.

She was the teacher who taught me to think outside the box, and to teach students using any method that works. Always following the school or the district curriculum can lead to failure for many students. At the end of the year her mom came in and Yvette was so proud to sit and read Clifford to her, mom. Yvette’s mom was in tears as she listened to her daughter read. It was a miracle! Yvette was diagnosed MIMR (mildly mentally retarded) and according to her IEP (Individual Education Program) would have never learned to read. Yvette’s IEP goals and objectives were disheartening. Her only goal for the year was to learn thirteen letters of the alphabet -- nothing else. It was her great desire and trying something different that made all the difference. It can’t be done, she can’t do it, it’s impossible, she’s retarded, they will never read, the books to hard, or all the other nonsense that I have heard the last ten years that prevent teachers from believing. Yvette’s courage has kept me from ever saying they can’t or they won’t. A second grade mentally retarded student that learns to read in one year will set your attitude and expectations as a teacher. We spent the year
laughing, smiling, hugging, and learning to read and reading to learn. Yvette taught me what believing in high expectations really means for student outcomes.

Sean Taylor M.Ed.

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