The ELL Vocabulary Books are designed based on best practices for teaching English language learners of all ages
and language proficiency levels. With an emphasis on content area–based themes, the ELL Vocabulary Books and
their supporting resources develop students' social and academic language.
Engaging themes are based on content areas and emphasize academic and social language.
Vocabulary Cards and activities (including matching, grouping, sorting, and close) provide for recurring review and practice of featured words.
Activity pages help reinforce and assess students' understanding of featured words in different contexts.
Lesson plans scaffold vocabulary development and support oral and written application of
vocabulary words. Higher order thinking skills are promoted through dialogue frames and
differentiated writing activities.
How to Use ELL Vocabulary Book Series
Preview the vocabulary book and its supporting resources:
Teacher Lesson Plan
Vocabulary Cards (Picture with Word Cards, Picture-Only Cards, Word-Only Cards, Category Cards)
Matching Activity Sheet
Cloze Activity Sheet
Vocabulary Games Guide
Lesson Sequence
Step 1: Pre-Teach Vocabulary
Introduce the vocabulary and topic using the Vocabulary Cards.
Step 2: Shared Reading
Preview the book. Then read each page with students, pausing between pages to discuss
the labeled pictures and to ask the questions provided in the lesson plan.
Step 3: Classify Vocabulary
Have students group and sort Vocabulary Cards according to the categories provided.
Step 4: Partnered Practice and Discussion
Have student pairs discuss and review the vocabulary with the support of the book,
Vocabulary Cards, and critical thinking dialogue frames.
Step 5: Independent Practice and Writing
Have students complete the Matching Activity Sheet or Cloze Activity Sheet depending
on their language proficiency level. Use the differentiated writing activities to have
students apply their new vocabulary knowledge.
