Vocabulary Spinner

One of my colleagues included this idea in one of her discussion posts.  She suggested adding different vocabulary activities to the spinner such as:

•  Act it out
• Say a synonym
• Part of speech 
• Draw it
• Say an antonym
• Rhyme time
• Use it in a sentence
• Define it

I use this particulary online spinner: Online Spinner
 For the ELL, this activity would be a good idea but perhaps not in front of the entire mainstream class. I think this would be fun with a small group of mixed English and ELL speakers. 

Talk 4 Writing

Here is a video explaining Talk 4 Writing.

 It is a concept widely accepted and used in the UK.  It has been highly successful in developing both Speaking and Writing Skills in children aged 4-12.  The general idea is that a student is taught actions for certain words (actions that either the class comes up with or the teacher regularly uses).  Then, the children start to use these in their writing.  Conjunctions are some of my favourite types of words to use 'Talk 4 Writing' with because they are harder words to describe.  Therefore, for an ELL, this idea would be particularly useful to extend their ideas and writing.

Here is one more video with an example.

Vocabulary Ideas for the ELL

Here is a link to some super easy and effective strategies for building vocabulary in a classroom with ELL's:
15 Vocabulary Strategies in 15 minutes

It is a good guide and reference to hand to hep within the classroom.

Scaffolding Options for Teachers of ELL's

Scaffolding Options

Here is a PDF of a list of scaffolding options to help an ELL (Click on Scaffolding Options above).

I particularly liked this document because it summarized each activity.
It is a great resource to have to hand!
The detailed list starts on page 29!