Teacher Toolkit

Additional ELL Resources

These supports help multilingual learners access grade-level Find the Key reading tasks while building language confidence.

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Before reading supports

  • Preview 4 key words with student-friendly definitions and visuals.
  • Use a quick picture walk and ask: What do you notice? What do you predict?
  • Teach one cognate connection when possible (example: information / información).

During reading supports

  • Chunk text into 2-3 sentence sections and pause for turn-and-talk.
  • Use sentence frames: 'The main idea is __ because __.'
  • Allow students to annotate with symbols: ? for confusion, ! for important details.

After reading supports

  • Give oral rehearsal time before writing responses.
  • Offer dual-mode response options: draw + label, audio response, or written response.
  • Use color-coding for evidence: claim in one color, text proof in another.

Family-home practice ideas

5-minute talk routine

Ask students to retell a short passage in their home language first, then in English using one sentence frame.

Vocabulary notebook

Track new words with definition, drawing, and an example sentence so students revisit language over time.