EL Support: How to support ESL students during read alouds and other grade level text

This is an idea I came up with this year for supporting my ESL students. I want to share it with you all so that you can also support your students if you are not already doing something similar. <br><br>Before I read a grade level picture book aloud to my students, I read it to my ESL students in small group. While I read to them, we stop and chat about the text and discuss the vocabulary and what is happening in the text. I also ask comprehension questions to make sure that they know what is going on. We also review key vocabulary from the text. <br><br>After we finish reading the book, during read aloud with the whole class, I provide them with a graphic organizer that asks them the following questions to complete during or after the read aloud:<br><br>What did you hear that helped you understand the story?<br><br>What did you hear that confused you or that you didn’t understand?<br><br>What is something that you would like to ask the class about the story?<br><br>When we finish the read aloud and discussion, I ask my ESL students to share what they wrote on their sheets with me. This is important because this is giving them a chance to ask questions about the story that they didn’t understand without having to ask those questions in front of their peers. They also share with me anything that they heard that they didn’t understand and I explain it to them and provide an example to help clarify their understanding. <br><br>This has been really beneficial for my ESL students this year and has helped them stay connected to the lesson and make sure that they are comprehending what is going on. They have also told me that it helps them so much to hear the story first so they know what is going on and they are able to focus on what the teacher is saying instead of worrying about not knowing what is happening in the story. <br><br>If you have any questions or would like to share how you support your ESL students during read alouds, please let me know. Feel free to PM if you would like a copy of the graphic organizer I use.