Reading is one of the biggest challenges for mostly all students. The English language has so many rules, exceptions, words that don’t follow the rules or exceptions. It can all become so confusing for students. Reading for English language learners is a whole new ball game.
Reading for English language learners can be very challenging. I was always looking for some new ways to get my students really engaged and excited to learn how to read. I always am looking for high interest passages, and books to which my ELL students could relate. But I always felt like I needed something more. I had seen Roll and Read games before and thought they would be perfect for teaching reading to English language learners. But, I couldn’t find any resources. So, I created ESL Games: Roll and Read Bundle. I use it in my classroom in a variety of ways. But, here are my two favorites.
Reading for English Language Learners- Roll and Read Activities
Friendly Competition- Roll and Read Games
In the directions for Roll and Read you will see I make it into a game. Whoever finishes a number column first is the winner. Friendly competition is something all of my students enjoy. Reading for English Language Learners can be a stressful part of their day and if I can make it a little more fun and engaging for them I do! They also know at the end everyone gets a prize because whether they finished their column first, they still worked very hard to read the words on the page.
Roll and Read Relay Races
Another fun way to play the game is to turn them into Roll and Read relay games! To play the game this way, is to put the papers on one side of the room and the students on the other. Making it a race to see who can get to their paper first, roll the dice and read the word. This will get your students moving and really get their hearts pumping.
Roll and Read Musical Chairs
The last game I enjoy playing with the Roll and Read worksheets is musical chairs. The students walk around desk chairs that each have a worksheet, highlighter and dice on them. When I stop the music, they must stop at the chair, roll the dice and read the word. I do not take any chairs away during this game of musical chairs because the students almost always end up at different chairs. Plus, I do not want any of my ELL students to get “out” because I want them all practicing their reading skills. The fun is not knowing which seat they will end up in and what words they will still have on the papers when they need to read. |
Games are some of my students’ favorite ways to learn and I love to change the games up. But creating different games to help reading for English language learners would be another full-time job on top of teaching. So using the same game with different variations is a lot easier and fun! This bundle also comes with six different roll and read products. Some of those packs are verbs, feelings and emotions, and parts of the body. You can see the list of all the products included here.
Informal Assessments
These games are great cumulative activities after teaching lessons on different topics like verbs or school vocabulary. You can find more information on my Year-Long Curriculum Bundle in this blog post. I often will listen to my students as they are playing and use the Roll and Read game for a quick, informative, informal assessment and see what vocabulary words my students can read easily and which they still struggle with.
Often, I will take certain game boards and partner up with one of my students and play the game with them. They see this as a treat. But really I am using this opportunity to listen to them and to take notes on which words they are struggling with. Assessing reading for English language learners does not always need to be a reading passage, or a running record, or even a formal reading assessment.
As ELL teachers, we want to assess our students quickly without them always feeling like they were taking a test. The stress of knowing they are reading for a score can cause a lot of anxiety in a native speaker. That anxiety rises in a non-native speaker. Playing the Roll and Read game with my student one on one really gives me some reading data. It also lets me build a relationship with them and notice other things like pencil grip, strategies, anxiety, etc.
This bundle is full of amazing topics and will surely get your ELL students engaged in reading. Plus, you can switch and play the game. If you come up with a new way to use the ESL Games: Roll and Read Bundle. Please comment and share with me. I would love to see how teachers are using my products! Reading for English language learners does not need to be boring. You can make it FUN!!
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