Supporting ELL Students - Word Collector Journal

 This Word Collector Journal was created for emerging English Language Learners. 

I found myself working with a small intervention group of elementary students who were new to the United States. These students were so curious about knowing the names of everyday objects around them. They constantly asked “What’s this?” I would give them the word for the object in that moment, but found that they would quickly forget and want to hear the word again the next day. In an attempt to support these students in building their English vocabulary and confidence, the Word Collector Journal was born. 

Students would carry their iPad with them and collect words throughout the day. Additionally, if they forgot a word they previously learned they could refer back to their journal and refresh their memory. Have the word accessible for students in written and audio format was extremely helpful in growing their oral and written English language skills. 

This simple template can be modified to meet your students needs. Feel free to download the Pages document and edit as needed. 

 

 

 

 

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4 replies

March 02, 2023

A wonderful activity for learners of any language. I intend to apply this for music learners. One of my former teachers used to keep a paper notebook of music rhythms that he found difficult to read/perform. He would routinely study the rhythms he had collected often and built his “rhythm vocabulary,” becoming a much more competent musician.

I aim for this activity to serve that purpose and be expanded to include any new materials that the student would like to collect such as patterns, terms, techniques, etc.

Thanks for sharing this idea and resource!

March 02, 2023

I never considered using the journal in that capacity, but that is an incredible idea! Thank you so much for the feedback. I hope your students enjoy it as much as mine have!

March 05, 2023

Okay, Lindsay, having read your post and Donald's comment, I think this template could also be adapted to become a "strategy notebook" for preservice teachers. They could have a page for each instructional strategy they learn and use video placeholders to record short videos of themselves describing the strategy or even modeling the strategy in mini-teaches.

Lots of possibilities here for learners of all ages! Thanks for sharing!

March 13, 2023

That's an awesome idea! I am loving these "Yes, and" moments!! 🖤

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