As teachers of English Language Learners, it is our job to ensure that students produce language in a secure setting that scaffolds their learning to help them be successful. This year, I have been using several new strategies to increase oral production in my classroom. Here are a few ideas.

Students work in pairs. Teacher directs students to think of a

sentence that meets a given criteria (e.g. compare and contrast two characters).

One student acts as the “Counting Dude”, while the other shares his/her sentence. If the speaker’s sentence is not 7 or more words long, the “Counting Dude” says “Try Again.”

This activity encourages students to compete to form longer sentences.

Prepare prompts to elicit specific language usage.

Students will move on teacher signal and then stop at a partner when they hear the teacher say, “land.”

Teacher gives a prompt and those partners share.

Repeat!

Type out commands or questions on a piece of paper.

Cut them apart and put them in a hat. Student take turns picking a paper. Teacher reads the command or

question and the given student responds.

The first students will pick two vocabulary words (x and y) to say, “I have (x), who has (y)?

The next students will say, “I have (y), who has (z)?”

Continue playing the game to provide vocabulary practice with all of the picture cards.

This game is played with two teams. The picture cards are spread out on a

table and the first person from each team stands in front of the cards.

The teacher describes attributes of one of the cards until a student can figure out which item the teacher is describing.

If the card slapped is correct, the team gets a point.

If the student can use the word in a sentence frame, the team gets another point.

Choose a selection of content text. Type the document using 4 types of

font, one per sentence. Each student in a group of four chooses

the type of font they will read and the team reads the selection.

Follow with focused discussion such as Round Robin Sharing.

After a read aloud or a team reading, individuals ...› Sketch an image that reflects the reading.› Choose a quote that is meaningful.› Write a statement that summarizes their

thoughts on the reading.

Turn n’ Talk (Think – Pair – Share) Chants Talking stick BINGO (for vocabulary practice) Lines of communication Clock appointments My turn, your turn

Many of these ideas came from GLAD, Susana Dutro’s Systematic ELD, and from Instructional Services of Salem-Keizer Public Schools.