Plan: introduction main part

Label Everything in Your Classroom.

Posters. Choose posters with colorful and clearly labeled images. Or add labels for the pictures yourself. They don't have to be perfect—you don’t need to type, print, and laminate the words before you tape them onto the posters. Handwriting them in bold on sticky notes and taping the sticky notes onto the poster works equally well. The main thing is for your students to associate each word with its corresponding image to help them learn vocabulary.

Maps. Write the title above each map to depict what the land represents. If it’s a country, write the name of the country. If it’s a world map, specify that. Label cardinal directions on a map: north, south, east, west, as well as northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest. Add labels for large bodies of water such as oceans and bays—their names often appear in tiny print and are therefore almost unnoticeable on the original map. For a world map, highlight the names of the seven continents to make them stand out.
Be sure to leave ample space between posters and maps on your walls so that your students aren't over-saturated with visual input. Walls that are too cluttered with information may overwhelm your students rather than draw them in.
Supplies. Label containers for all supplies and materials in your classroom: pencils, colored pencils, erasers, scissors, rulers, glue, lined paper, white paper, and any other materials you use regularly.
Label the shelves where binders, folders, writing journals, books, and workbooks are kept with their designated names.
Labeling all materials will not only help your students learn vocabulary, it will help you and your students locate supplies easily—thereby maximizing classroom time.
Technology and Furniture. Label computers, computer screen, keyboard, mouse, speakers, classroom screen, cabinet, file cabinet, teacher desk, teacher chair, and tables.
Miscellaneous. Label a wall, a visible outlet, a visible chord, light switch, air vent, the ceiling, windows, shades, curtains, and the classroom door and clock.
Speak to Your Students with Rich Vocabulary. Take full advantage of classroom time by using rich vocabulary in your everyday instruction and interactions with your students. Believe me, they are listening to every word you say.
2. Speak to Your Students with Rich Vocabulary . Take full advantage of classroom time by using rich vocabulary in your everyday instruction and interactions with your students. Believe me, they are listening to every word you say.
Pair up Rich Vocabulary with Synonymous but Simpler Words. When you use rich vocabulary in the classroom, use synonymous but simpler words immediately after the rich vocabulary so that your English language learners gain a natural understanding of the rich vocabulary. For example, when you say to your students, "Can you elaborate on that?", some of your students may look at you as if they are clueless as to what you mean.
But if you say, "Can you elaborate on that?" followed up with, "Can you tell me more?", then they will grasp what you mean. They have now learned that to elaborate means to tell more about something.
Use a Variety of Rich Phrases to Communicate the Same Message
Another way to naturally incorporate rich vocabulary into your daily dialogue is to use different rich phrases interchangeably to communicate the same message to your students. For example, one day you might say, "I'm perplexed by what the author is communicating" and another day you might say, "I'm baffled by what the author is communicating." Use gestures to communicate that you are confused, such as bringing your finger up to your head and putting on a very pensive look. If you think your students still need the rich phrase explained, continue to follow the rich phrase up with a synonymous but simpler phrase. Eventually, you will no longer need to use the simpler phrase because your students will have learned to associate it with the richer phrases.
3. Pre-Teach Key Vocabulary. Don’t assume students will know essential words from the text. Teach them the words they don't know ahead of time. This is called pre-teaching vocabulary and it helps equip them for a successful reading experience. Here's how:
Select Key Words. Pre-select key words from the text you're about to read.⁸
Pretest. Give your students a quick pretest to assess their current knowledge of key vocabulary.
Direct Instruction. Once you've targeted the words your students don’t know, focus on teaching them!
Graphic Organizers. Word Study, word maps, word journals, and word walls are excellent tools for helping students learn and apply new vocabulary.
Tangible Items. Aside from images, use tangible objects to teach the meanings of words. For example, if introducing the word bark (from a tree), show students a piece of actual bark you found outside. Or, better yet, take them outside and show them.
4. Select Text with Rich Vocabulary and Images. Read to Your Students. Have a designated, regular time to read aloud to your students in class. Reading to your students is an excellent way to not only teach new words, but to model their correct pronunciation. Choose high interest reading material with rich vocabulary and images. Attractive images in text are powerful in communicating the meanings of words. Display the Text on a Large Screen. If you can, display the text on a large screen using a document camera, so that the text is highly visible to your entire class as you read it. Enlarging the font (use the zoom lens on the doc cam) and displaying one section at a time helps students focus. I use a blank half sheet of white paper to uncover the lines of text one by one, as we read them. I simply slide the white sheet of paper down as we read one line at a time.
Use Many Visuals. To teach the meanings of words for which there are no visuals on the page, it's critical to pre-teach key vocabulary from the text, accompanied by pictures you've gathered to represent the words' meanings. Keep the visuals handy after pre-teaching vocabulary – such as by posting them on a word wall – so when the you come across the words in the text, you can quickly point to the visuals without distracting students from the reading. Try to minimize interruptions as you read. Fewer pauses when reading increases reading fluency and aides comprehension.
5. Play Vocabulary Games. Allow students many opportunities to practice new vocabulary through games and classroom activities. Some examples:
Word Bingo: Each student has a card with grids, with one word written in each grid. Students listen for the meaning of each word and place markers on each word depicting the meaning they hear. The first player to mark a complete row, column or diagonal pattern of words is the winner. For more advanced students, give them each two cards—they now need a marked pattern of words on each card to win!
Charades: Students have to act out a word or phrase without speaking, while the rest of the class tries to guess what the word or phrase is. The goal is for students to guess each word or phrase as quickly as possible. For more advanced or competitive students, divide the class into teams. Time how long it takes each team to guess the opponent’s word/phrase. Keep track of time to determine the winning team!
Word Jeopardy: Students are given clues in the form of answers, and must phrase their responses in the form of questions. Jeopardy games can be created on smartboards by following utube tutorials.
6. Sing Songs. Using songs to teach vocabulary is always a winner for English language learners of all ages. You can pre-teach key vocabulary from the song before you introduce the song lyrics to your students.
Select Catchy Tunes. When I taught English language learners in elementary school several years ago, Holiday Jazz Chants were a hit with my students. These catchy, melodious songs about holidays celebrated in the United States are rich in vocabulary and common English expressions.
I purchased the Holiday Jazz Chants CD, which has the songs on it, and the Holiday Jazz Chants Student Booklet which contains all the song lyrics from the CD.
Display the Lyrics in Large Print. Elementary School
To help my students learn vocabulary, I copied the song lyrics onto large poster paper, which I displayed when we sang along to the CD in class. I added some pictures and used a pointer to point to each word as we sang along. I will tell you that my kiddos absolutely loved singing these songs! It was such a fun and natural way for them to learn English.

Middle School, High School and Adult English Learners. Display the lyrics on a large screen as you play the song on a CD and sing along. You can also find a YouTube video for the song to play in class. Many YouTube song videos contain the lyrics written on the video.

7. Teach Prefixes and Suffixes. Thousands of words in the English language contain prefixes and suffixes. Therefore, teaching your students these important word parts and what they mean is a powerful way to expand their vocabulary. When students know the meaning of prefixes and suffixes, they are then able to figure out or make smart guesses about unknown words they come across in text. For example, let's say a student comes across the word antifreeze in a novel he's reading. He may not recognize this word and be initially stumped as to what it means. But if he has been taught that the prefix anti- means against, then he can conclude that antifreeze is something that goes against or prevents freezing. Do you know that only 4 prefixes account for 97% of prefixed words students are likely to come across in school text? The same is so for suffixes. So if you only teach your students a few prefixes and suffixes, be sure to target these!

8. Use Cognates. I always tell my ELLs that by already knowing Spanish, they have a huge advantage in learning English because there are hundreds of English-Spanish cognates! Cognates are words in two languages that have the same meaning and similar spelling and pronunciation.Make it a point to ask your students to look for cognates as they read. When you introduce new vocabulary, ask your ELLs if the words have Spanish cognates. Your students will receive a boost of confidence when they realize that their knowledge of Spanish is very useful in helping them learn English. This will empower them to keep reading and learning more vocabulary

9. Introduce Words in Pairs. So many words in the English language are frequently seen in pairs, so it only makes sense to introduce them that way. Your ELLs will enjoy seeing familiar pairs of words and the opportunity to learn two words at a time instead of just one.
Some common pairs of words:

• 
  peanut butter and jelly
  
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  thunder and lightning
  
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  ham and cheese
  
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  sweet and sour
  
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  hide and seek
  
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  sour cream and onion
  
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  sea salt and vinegar
  
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  bacon and eggs
  
• 
  fast and furious
  

10. Seize Teachable Moments. Impromptu teachable moments are priceless learning opportunities. They come unannounced but are timely opportunities to teach new vocabulary. Examples:
You come across an important word in a text you didn’t introduce before reading the text. A student uses a word in an oral sentence and another student asks what the word means. After the morning announcements, a song is played over the intercom that contains a word or phrase that is repeated continually.