EL Support Lesson
We Read Together
Objectives
Academic
Students will be able to demonstrate reading comprehension through completion of reflection activities.
Language
Students will be able to retell a story with details from the text using visual supports.
Introduction
(3 minutes)
- Gather the class together and ask students if they have ever gotten really, really dirty. Utilize the vocabulary cards for language support as needed.
- Have students pair-share what they needed to do in order to get clean ("Take a bath," "Wash," etc.).
- Ask the class to give a thumbs up or thumbs down to share how they feel about taking a bath. Then ask a few students to share out with the group their reasoning using the sentence frame: "I like/don't like taking a bath because..."
- Explain that today you will be reading a story about a bird who gets really dirty and doesn't want to take a bath.
Building academic language
Word
(12 minutes)- Review or introduce the remaining vocabulary words using the vocabulary cards and glossary as a support. Provide students with student-friendly definitions and model using the vocabulary words in a sentence to check for understanding.
- Display the cover of the read-aloud text and tell students the title and author.
- Read aloud the text.
- Pause midway through the text and ask students if they have any predictions for what will happen next. Provide students with the following sentence frame to utilize: "I predict that __ __ __ __ will happen next."
- Continue reading the story.
Sentence
(15 minutes)- Go back to the beginning of the book and ask students to think about what happened in the beginning of the story (e.g., "The pigeon was dirty and needed a bath"). Model thinking aloud to demonstrate using the text as a reference as needed.
- Repeat this process to retell (with student input) the middle and ending of the story.
- Model how to fold a paper into thirds (or pre-fold the papers), then pass out a paper and crayons to each student.
- Pass out individual copies of the text to students to reference.
- Explain that students should draw a picture of what happened in the beginning of the story.
- Repeat this process for the middle and ending of the story.
Discourse
(2 minutes)- Invite students to turn and talk to share with a partner what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story, using their pictures to help them.
Additional EL adaptations
Beginning
- Work with a small group of students to use the vocabulary cards as an aid to retell the story.
Advanced
- Encourage students to add writing to their pictures to retell what happened.
Formative Assessment of Academic Language
(3 minutes)- Informally assess students' ability to retell the story by taking note of student responses during the group work portion of the lesson.
- Formally assess if students were able to retell the major parts of the story by collecting work samples at the conclusion of the lesson.
Review and closing
(5 minutes)- Display the drawings on tables, walls or the whiteboard and use them as a reference to practice retelling the story once more.
- If time allows, ask students to share their favorite part of the story as an exit ticket.
Related learning resources
Glossary: We Read Together
Worksheet
Glossary: We Read Together
Use this glossary with the EL Support Lesson: We Read Together.
preschool
Reading & Writing
Worksheet
We Read Together
Lesson plan
We Read Together
In this interactive read-aloud lesson, ELs listen carefully as they learn about a pigeon who doesn't want to take a bath!
preschool
Reading & Writing
Lesson plan
Ready to Read
Workbook
Ready to Read
...Ready to Read
This workbook will acquaint your preschooler with reading by introducing it through a variety of subjects, such as math, science, and even art!...
preschool
Reading & Writing
Workbook
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Worksheet
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Read this timeless poem by Jane Taylor aloud to your child. Work together to identify and circle the rhyming words.
kindergarten
Reading & Writing
Worksheet
