The ESL Teaching Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Whether you teach young English learners or teenagers and even adults, teaching in language involves teaching the grammar of that language. At the same time, it raises many questions for us. What is grammar exactly? Do we need to teach grammar explicitly when working with English learners in English speaking settings? Or do we let the students absorb it through content? If we do teach explicitly, do we have them practice with worksheets or are there any other ways that would make it stick better? How can I teach if I myself am not comfortable with grammar rules and haven't learned them that well? What if I don't know anything about it? Do I still have to teach it? These are just a few questions I have heard regarding teaching grammar. So I decided to record a couple of episodes that will help put you at ease whether you work with younger English learners and teenagers or adults. And today's episode is all about how to teach grammar to younger learners, kids in elementary grades. So let's talk about strategies that will help you teach grammar to them.


Show Notes:

• Episode 124 - How to Teach Grammar to Younger English Learners

Simply Ieva Offers:

Today’s episode:

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – EL curriculum and coaching membership for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. Back-to-school sale - join for 20%off!

Free resources - sign up and keep in touch:

• Accommodate and Modify Your Lessons for ELs with Less than 1 Hour of Planning a Week - classroom teacher and admin checklist 
• Free Audio Training - 3 Mindset Shifts for Instilling and Living Out a Belief that All Teachers are Teachers of Language.
• ESL Newcomer Teaching Checklist

Save time and build confidence in your EL teaching with these resources:

• Book a $0 Consult Call - Lead ELs to Progress without Overwhelm
• EMBARK™ Newcomer Curriculum
• Essential Lesson Plan Bundle
• My TpT store
• Record a comment for us - click HERE. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Related episodes and articles: 

• Episode 15 - How to teach grammar to English learners (the grammar teaching sequence)

Let’s connect!

• Follow me on Instagram
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group

The ESL Teaching Roadmap is your one-stop shop not only for ESL curriculum materials, but most importantly, for personalized teacher support that you will not get anywhere else. If you are ready to say “yes” to more aligned EL teaching, go to www.simplyieva.com/roadmap and join us!

Support the Show.

Today we're diving into a crucial topic for every ESL teacher as we approach a new school year—how to set the stage for success during the first five days in the ESL classroom. In this episode, we'll explore essential strategies for building trust, setting expectations, understanding student backgrounds, establishing routines, introducing content, and fostering a positive classroom community. Whether you're a new or veteran teacher, these insights will help you create a welcoming and effective learning environment for your students right from the start. Stay tuned as we break down each day with practical tips and activities to ensure a smooth and productive start to your school year. 

Show Notes:

• Episode 123 - Kicking Off the School Year: The First Five Days in the ESL Classroom

Simply Ieva offers:

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – EL curriculum and coaching membership for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. Back-to-school sale - join for 20%off!

Free resources - sign up and keep in touch:

• Accommodate and Modify Your Lessons for ELs with Less than 1 Hour of Planning a Week - classroom teacher and admin checklist 
• Free Audio Training - 3 Mindset Shifts for Instilling and Living Out a Belief that All Teachers are Teachers of Language.
• ESL Newcomer Teaching Checklist

Save time and build confidence in your EL teaching with these resources:

• Book a $0 Consult Call - Lead ELs to Progress without Overwhelm
• EMBARK™ Newcomer Curriculum
• Essential Lesson Plan Bundle
• My TpT store
• Record a comment for us - click HERE. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Related episodes and articles: 

• Episode 78 - Starting strong: easy and fun icebreaker activities for all EL levels

Let’s connect!

• Follow me on Instagram
• Follow me on LinkedIn
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

The ESL Teaching Roadmap is your one-stop shop not only for ESL curriculum materials, but most importantly, for personalized teacher support that you will not get anywhere else. If you are ready to say “yes” to more aligned EL teaching, go to www.simplyieva.com/roadmap and join us!

Support the Show.

When I ask teachers: if you could have a magic wand, what would you wish for you in your teaching situation, I get so many requests for a scope and sequence for newcomers and for a newcomer curriculum. So in today’s episode, I wanted to go back to the basics and talk a little bit about the scope and sequence for English language learners.  I will be answering the questions about what the scope and sequence is, why it is an important document to have, what is included in it, and how ELL teachers can create their own, especially for newcomers. I will also be sharing an example of my scope and sequence and a link for you to grab it at the end of this episode. 

What you will hear about a scope and sequence for newcomers:

• What is included in a scope and sequence
• How to create a scope and sequence when you don’t have a curriculum or a team
• The best ways to incorporate Common Core State Standards, ELD standards, and WIDA standards into your scope and sequence
• My process for creating academic and social emotional goals for my students
• Using my grammar teaching sequence available for free on my website

Resources:

As mentioned in the episode, here is the:

• Year Long Scope and Sequence

Below you will find some useful resources!

• EMBARK™ Newcomer curriculum grades 6-12 
• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – monthly membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• Free Audio Training - 3 Mindset Shifts for Instilling and Living Out a Belief that All Teachers are Teachers of Language.
• Book a $0 Consult Call - Lead ELs to Progress without Overwhelm
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

Support the Show.

In this episode, I share 6 elements of an effective EL lesson plan that I have learned in my years as a teacher. Planning for English Learners is not the same as planning for other contents because many EL teachers do not have a set curriculum and will need to plan for different proficiency levels and different sized groups of students. I go into the essential components of an EL lesson plans - an objective, background building, presentation, practice, assessment, and extension. 

I discuss the preparation to do ahead of tim, how to choose strategies that will work best for the objective you’re working toward and give examples of how to follow the research based, SIOP protocol to write both language and content objectives. You will walk away inspired to make the most of the planning time you have over the Summer or any time of year.

What you will learn about EL Lesson Planning

• How to lesson plan for your EL students
• What information to include in your EL lesson plans
• How to figure out the right goals to plan for
• Why Summer is the best time to get started on your lesson plans for next year
• What makes planning for EL students unique
• Components of an effective EL  lesson plan

Join The Waitlist for the ESL Lesson Planning Masterclass

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

You may also be interested in:

• Blog Post: 6 Elements of an Effective ESL Lesson Plan
• Lesson Planning Masterclass for ESL Teachers

Support the Show.

In today’s episode, I am chatting with Molly Badrawy all about lesson planning for ELs and the realities of working in a low incidence district. Molly Badrawy is a full-time ESOL teacher in  New Hampshire, and a freelance consultant at FaCES, Fair Culture and English Services, providing customized cultural guidance and language instruction for and individual adult language learners and organizations, alike.  A national and international career that spans public, private, higher education as well as the business sector, Molly has presented her work at many conferences, serves on the NH English Language Advisory Committee, and facilitates the NH Low-incidence Community of Practice cohort, which is where we met!  She lives in Peterborough, NH with her husband, two daughters, two cats, and a dog and believes she has the best job in the world. It was wonderful to speak with Molly and to get to know her. 

What you will learn about lesson planning for ELs:

• Different ways to collaborate with content teachers while planning lessons
• What co-teaching can look like in different classrooms
• Tips for making the most of your limited time with small groups
• Ideas for creating lessons that are responsive to student needs based on observations
• How journaling about students can support lesson planning for ELs
• Strategies for reviewing content for your ELs in fun and engaging ways

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

You may also be interested in:

• WIDA Resource Library
• Episode 17 - A Peek Into My Middle School EL Classroom
• Episode 18 - Collaboration with Teachers, Families, and Students with Beth Mailley

Support the Show.

In today’s episode, I speak with Kristen Vibas, an ELL teacher from Virginia who I met on Instagram. Kristen has been teaching since 2005.
She shares how she went from aspiring actress to ELL teacher, and shares peeks into her classroom. You will love the tips and strategies she has developed on how to support multilingual students and how to teach reading to ELLs as much as I did.

Both content teachers and ELL teachers will find this episode valuable as reading is such a critical part of learning in all subjects.

What you will learn about how to teach reading:

• The 5 components of reading 
• Reasons why reading is such a difficult domain for many students to master
• Tips and strategies for teaching reading to ELLs
• How reading instruction differs between younger and older students
• Suggestions for avoiding the dreaded “summer slide” with reading skills

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

You may also be interested in:

• Follow Kristen Vibas on Instagram
• A Walk in the Chalk - Kristen Vibas' Blog
• Episode 21 - How to Pre-Teach Vocabulary in the Mainstream Classroom

Support the Show.

To us EL teachers, vocabulary pre-teaching is our daily bread, but I received a question from one of the content area teachers that made me think…what comes naturally to us, does not necessarily make immediate sense to our colleagues.

I recently saw a post from a science teacher tasked with teaching English Newcomers and suggested a list of ideas, one being pre-teaching vocabulary. But, how do you pre-teach vocabulary in a mainstream classroom? Today’s episode addresses this question and more.

Why is pre-teaching vocabulary good for all learners?

There are 3 tiers of words we talk about in EL instruction: Tier 1, or everyday, words, Tier 2, or frequently used words that show up across content areas, and Tier 3, or subject specific words. Pre-teaching, particularly tier 2 words, is important for access to the academics and equity. All students are building their vocabulary and ability to communicate their ideas and building confidence in demonstrating their content knowledge.

What you will hear in this episode:

• What vocabulary pre-teaching is
• The reasons why it is so important to pre-teach vocabulary in the mainstream classroom
• The steps that can be taken to pre-teach vocabulary
• How pre-teaching vocabulary will benefit all students not just the language learners

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• 25 Authentic Speaking Activities for Your ESL Classroom
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

You may also be interested in:

• Sample vocabulary slide - Google Slides
• Episode 14 - Vocabulary for ESL Students

Support the Show.

Today’s episode is the answer to the question from one of my readers/listeners. What do I do with my newcomers the last three weeks of school? They are so frustrated and will speak no English this summer. How can I help them without frustration? 
I wanted to share some activities that will take the frustration away because they all involve creativity, flow and connection. The rules for the end of the year are really no different than those for the beginning of the year - there just might be less motivation and more exhaustion on both the teachers and the students’ parts. 

Here is what you will hear in this episode:

• I will share a few quick ideas that you can implement in community building, classroom environment and academics. 
• I will go more in depth into five activities that have worked well for my students over the years 

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

End of the Year Activity Packet for grades 6-12

End of the Year Memory Book (grades K-5)

Blog posts

5 End of the Year Activities for Your English Learners

End of the school year digital activities for ESL students

Support the Show.

I have been a big believer in the importance of social emotional learning for a long time. But, teaching amidst the pandemic for the last few years has really emphasized how vital it is for all students, particularly for English learners. There are five competencies to social emotional learning - self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills, decision making skills. Each of these is worthy of a dedicated episode. 
So, in today’s episode, I focus specifically on self management. I will share the challenges I see my middle and high school students face with regards to self management and the techniques I have developed to help them help themselves.

Here’s what you will learn about Self Management:

• How choice boards illuminated my students’ challenges with self management
• Details of the 5 part self management structure  I use in my classroom
• How and when to support students with goal setting 
• How teaching my students the difference between urgent and important got my students to put their phones down during class
• How opportunities for flexible seating, time blocking, and reflection/self-evaluation help students practice self management

Resources

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

You may also be interested in:

• CASEL - Fundamentals of Social Emotional Learning
• The Eisenhower matrix in the classroom
• Book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (affiliate link)
• Episode 4 - Choice Boards

Support the Show.

In this episode, I am chatting with Beth Mailley. Beth is an ESL teacher in the Washington, DC area. She has been teaching for 23 years  with 11 years as a classroom teacher before becoming an ESL teacher. She has been in that role for the past 12 years and loves it. When she is not teaching, she is most likely reading, hanging out with family, or trying to convince herself to exercise. It was such a pleasure to speak with Beth. 

She shares how she ended up in the ELL field after being a language learner herself during a service trip to Mexico. She experienced first-hand how frustrating it can be to learn a new language and the importance of non-verbal communication and human connection in the process. She opens up about how she utilizes that human connection now to collaborate with teachers, families and students. And of course, she gives her best tips for making the most important connections and setting up your classroom for success. 

What you’ll hear about collaboration:

• Tips for collaborating with fellow teachers, even when common planning time is tight
• Models for co teaching that you may not have considered
• Ideas for preparing your students for a new English Learner to join your class
• How to partner with parents and families by asking the right questions at parent-teacher conferences
• Ways to collaborate with students on their own language learning path

As mentioned in the episode, I am linking some useful resources!

• The ESL Teaching Roadmap – membership community for middle and high school ESL/ELL teachers. As a thank you for listening, use code ESLPODCAST for 10% off when you join. 
• Simply Ieva ESL Teachers Pay Teachers Store
• Teachable Platform - Courses and Workshops
• Follow me on Instagram 
• Join the Simply Ieva Facebook Group 

Connect with Beth:

• Find Beth on Instagram 
• The ESL Teacher Life

You may also be interested in: 

• Episode 6 – The simple steps to teacher collaboration with Courtney Morgan
• Episode 4 – Choice Boards for ESL Students: How to Use them in the Classroom

Support the Show.