As educators, we strive to create a classroom community that is inclusive and supportive, and to provide all students the instruction they need to build confidence and thrive. The Comprehension Toolkit (Primary and Intermediate) supports teachers to teach content knowledge and thinking strategies to students who come from varying cultural and linguistic backgrounds and are learning English as a new language.
There is sometimes a misconception that students must first learn English, and only then can they read to learn content knowledge. Teaching with The Comprehension Toolkit offers these students ways to use comprehension and thinking strategies to build their background knowledge and confidently use thinking and learning strategies even as they learn a new language. Providing a classroom environment that is welcoming and honors students’ language, ideas, and experiences is the first step in ensuring their success.
While the very same rich, meaning-based opportunities to learn should be offered to all students, a few additional practices offer English Learners (ELs) needed support. One of the resources developed to support The Comprehension Toolkit is an extensive guide to support ELs. Scaffolding for English Language Learners is available for both the Primary and the Intermediate Comprehension Toolkit. In addition, the small-group, targeted lessons in Comprehension Intervention offer extra support. Explore each of these resources:
Ultimately, nonfiction is the perfect medium for teaching reading, thinking, and learning strategies for all students, but it is especially well-suited for engaging ELs and supporting their learning a new language.
Adapting and differentiating instruction is a hallmark of teaching comprehension with the Toolkits, which:
The goal of Toolkit resources for students learning English is to make learning in a new language accessible, comprehensible, and engaging. Biliteracy, the ability to effectively communicate and understand written ideas in two different languages, is a goal in many schools, and to our way of thinking, it’s so important that children speaking two languages (or more!) continue learning and developing their language proficiency in both. We created The Comprehension Toolkit lesson frames in Spanish so that teachers have a Toolkit resource at their fingertips for teaching in Spanish. In addition to the lesson frames, there are many short nonfiction texts in English and Spanish available in the Toolkit. Check out the Spanish versions of articles in our Source Book of Short Text, as well as Toolkit Texts at varying grade levels.
Download two free lessons from The Comprehension Toolkit: “Merge Thinking with New Learning” (from the Primary Toolkit) and “Merge Your Thinking with New Learning” (from the Intermediate Toolkit).
Learn more about The Comprehension Toolkit at ComprehensionToolkit.com.