writing resources for english language learners

ESOL Courses

Free English Lessons Online

English Writing Practice - Exercises for English Language Learners

Popular Writing Lessons and Activities

• Giving Personal Information (A0-A1)
• The English Alphabet (A0-A1)
• Classroom Instructions (A0-A1)
• Daily Routines (A0-A1)
• Making Sentences (A0-A1)
• Starting College (A1+)
• Classroom Words (A1+)
• Fire Safety (A2+)
• Classroom Instructions (A1+)
• Health and Safety (A1+)
• Working Conditions (A2+)
• Present Continuous (A2+)
• The World's Greatest Superfan (A2+)
• Job Advertisements (A2+)
• Plastics and The Environment (B2+)
• Air Pollution in London (B2+)

Browse by Level and Type

Starter      a0-a1.

• The Alphabet
• Giving Personal Information
• Daily Routines
• Writing About Yourself
• Signs and Symbols
• Classroom Instructions
• At The Airport
• In The Park
• Healthy Eating
• Classroom Things 1
• Introducing Yourself
• Asking For Directions
• Spelling Months
• Days of The Week 1
• Ordinal Numbers 1
• Parts of a House
• Very Easy Song Lessons

Beginner      A1-A2

• Prepositions of Place
• Telling Time 1
• Telling Time 2
• Weather Words
• Types of Holidays
• Spelling Classroom Things
• Fire Safety
• Spelling Days of The Week
• What To See in Winter
• My Daily Routine
• Months of The Year
• Starting College
• Making Travel Plans
• David Beckham
• Summer Olympic Sports
• London Tourist Attractions
• Easy Song Lessons

Elementary      A2

• Starting a New Job
• Daily Routines 2
• Using Adjectives
• Present Continuous Verbs
• 'Wh' Questions
• Time Prepositions
• Wild Animals
• Describing People 1
• Describing People 2
• Describing People 3
• Describing People 4
• Describing People 5
• Describing People 6
• 'Can' For Abilities
• 'Must' and 'Must Not'

Pre-Intermediate      A2-B1

• Brazilian Football
• Indefinite Articles
• Comparatives and Superlatives
• Shutting Down a Computer
• Retail Jobs
• Barack Obama
• Entrepreneurs
• Song Lessons
• Apprenticeships
• Berlin Wall
• Burns Night
• Beltane Festival
• UK Elections
• US Elections
• Celebrity Pets

Intermediate      B1-B2

• Growing Roses
• Moroccan Hospitality
• New York Nicknames
• The World's Greatest Superfan
• The Great North Run
• Electing a US President
• UK General Elections 1
• UK General Elections 2
• The Peace Corps
• The Red Cross
• Berlin's East Side Gallery

Advanced      C1-C2

• The Venice Carnival
• Plastics and The Environment
• Coral Reef Ecosystems
• The History of Street Art
• The Republic of Colombia
• Language and Evolution
• Cranberries
• Digital Inclusion 1
• Digital Inclusion 2
• Kew Gardens
• Superstorms
• Giving Up Smoking
• Keeping Fish as Pets

Festivals and Seasonal      (All Levels)

Seasonal a0-a1.

• Chinese New Year 1
• Chinese New Year 2
• Valentine's Day
• Saint David's Day
• Saint Patrick's Day

Seasonal A1-A2

• Notting Hill Carnival
• Bastille Day
• Autumn Festivals
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas (Adjectives)
• New Year Celebrations

Seasonal A2-B1

• Burn's Night
• Trick or Treat
• The Notting Hill Carnival

Seasonal B1-C2

• Christmas Trees
• Christmas Shopping

Seasonal (All Levels)

• Christmas Songs

Starter A0-A1

Beginner a1-a2, elementary a2, pre-intermediate a2-b1, intermediate b1-b2, advanced c1-c2, browse by type, browse by level.

Website content © copyright ESOL Courses Limited, except where otherwise stated. All rights reserved.

Search Our Site

Classroom Q&A

With larry ferlazzo.

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog.

The Six Most Effective Instructional Strategies for ELLs—According to Teachers

• Share article

(This is the first post in a two-part series.)

The new question-of-the-week is:

What is the single most effective instructional strategy you have used to teach English-language learners?

This series is part of a longer series of questions and answers inviting educators from various disciplines to share their “single most effective instructional strategy.”

Last week, educators shared their recommendations when it came to teaching writing.

There are many more to come!

Today, Valentina Gonzalez, Denita Harris, Cindy Garcia, and Deedy Camarena offer their responses.

Before we get to today’s guest, I’d like to share my own answer.

I’m a big fan of all the ideas guests in this series offer—particularly the Picture Word Inductive Model .

Two that contributors to this series don’t mention and are ones I like to use often are the Language Experience Approach (LEA) and Total Physical Response (TPR).

The LEA describes a lesson in which the entire class does a common activity (playing a game, watching a video, anything), and then the teacher leads students in a process of writing about it. Those sentences can then be used for a myriad of other follow-up activities. It’s particularly useful for mixed-level classes—everyone can participate in the activity, and then students can write sentences about it that are simple or complex depending on their language proficiency. You can learn more about the LEA here .

Total Physical Response (TPR) describes a process where the teacher (and, later, students) model a physical action when teaching a new word (standing up when teaching the word “stand”). It’s active, can be done in a very playful mood, and can be made increasingly complex. You can read more at The Best Resources For Learning About Total Physical Response (TPR) .

You can learn more about ELL teaching strategies at previous posts appearing in this column—find them at Teaching English-Language Learners .

Two particularly useful posts that have not yet made it into that summary collection (I update them every summer) are Thirteen Instructional Strategies for Supporting ELL Newcomers and Ten Strategies for Teaching English-Language Learners Online .

Now, to responses from today’s guests:

Picture Word Inductive Model

Valentina Gonzalez is a former classroom teacher with over 20 years in education serving also as a district facilitator for English-learners, a professional-development specialist for ELs, and as an educational consultant. Valentina delivers professional development and coaches teachers on sheltered instruction strategies. Her work can be found on Seidlitz Education and on MiddleWeb . You can reach her through her website or on Twitter @ValentinaESL :

Shifting the way we approach teaching English-learners can have a positive effect on their success in our schools. When we see our English-learners’ assets first, we recognize everything they come with and value not only their culture but also the content and literacy they bring to the table.

I’ve found the Picture Word Inductive Model (Calhoun, 1998) to be one of the most effective instructional techniques in my experience teaching ELs. The benefits of using PWIM with English-learners are many. This literacy technique is quite flexible and can be used cross-curricularly no matter the grade level, language level, or content. PWIM leverages students’ funds of knowledge and builds upon them. Through the PWIM, ELs are engaged in thinking and in all language domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing with scaffolds and supports such as visuals and sentence stems or frames. This method can be used in all grade levels and cross-curricularly.

These are the steps I use to implement an adapted version of PWIM with English-learners and how each step benefits ELs:

This engaging instructional strategy helps to lower students’ anxiety levels, which increases participation. After using the PWIM with numerous student groups, these are some tips I can offer to educators who haven’t tried it before:

• Carefully select images that are compelling to your age group of students.
• Try color coding or chunking labeled words (ex.: all verbs in orange, adjectives in blue, etc.).
• Keep in mind students’ language-proficiency levels when creating sentence stems and frames. Students with advanced English proficiency will benefit from more sophisticated sentence structures.
• Don’t stress about doing it all in one day. Gage your students and make adjustments as needed.
• On a subsequent day, use the generated words as a sorting activity. Ask students to work with a partner to put the words in groups and label the groups.
• Co-create a sentence-patterning chart with the class. Some groups of students may need this level of support during Step 7.

Below is an example of a PWIM and sentence-patterning chart mash up. Combining these two techniques enhances ELs’ listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English.

This link will take you to a video with more details about the PWIM. I know many readers here have tried PWIM or variations, too. Please share pictures and stories of how your students have responded.

Sentence Frames

Denita Harris is a curriculum coordinator for the MSD of Wayne Township, Indianapolis. She has over 20 years of experience as a teacher, assistant principal, and district-level administrator. Harris is the recipient of the 2019 INTESOL (Indiana Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages) Best of the Best in K-12 Education, and the 2017 and 2020 African American Excellence in Education Award. Find her on Twitter @HarrisLeads:

The single most effective strategy I have used and would highly recommend when teaching English-language learners is the use of sentence frames for writing and speaking, the productive skills, accompanied with a word bank, word phrases, and/or pictures.

English-languagelearners possess a wealth of knowledge, and it is our obligation, as educators, to tap into their knowledge and continue to build upon what our students already know and can do. We must remember our students are in the process of learning a new language and are not in the process of learning a language; therefore, we can provide the words and the grammatical structures of the new language to help guide them in speaking and writing.

Here is an analogy to consider. English-language learners have the tools (vocabulary in their native language). They come to us with these tools; however, while learning English, they may not yet know the names of all the tools or how to use them properly to accomplish a task completely (speaking or writing in English). Our responsibility is to provide our students with the names of each tool (vocabulary in English) and demonstrate to them, through sentence frames, how they might utilize these tools to accomplish a complete task (express a complete thought or sentence in English). A sentence frame can be made up of only one sentence or several sentences to assist students in structuring paragraphs.

The use of sentence frames for writing and speaking not only give English-language learners a framework to communicate through both oral and written language, sentence frames also help build students’ self-efficacy. When students have the language to contribute to classroom discussions and are able to express their thoughts on paper, they begin to feel a part of the classroom community, and that makes all the difference.

Comprehensible Input

Cindy Garcia has been a bilingual educator for 14 years and is currently a district instructional specialist for PK-6 bilingual/ESL mathematics. She is active onTwitter @CindyGarciaTX and on her blog:

The single most effective strategy that I used to teach English-language learners is comprehensible input. Comprehensible input means that the teacher speaks in such a way that students are able to understand what is being said even when they do not know or understand all of the words being stated. Below are some strategies to make input comprehensible:

• Slow down rate of speech and enunciate clearly. As students are listening, they are also working to process what is being said and how that fits with what they already know. At the same time, ELLs are translanguaging and making sense of teachers’ academic language. ELLs are developing their English language, and it is very important that they hear those initial and ending sounds of words in order to add them to their vocabulary. Sometimes when we speak too quickly, we drop important sounds such as “ing”.
• Avoid figurative language and idioms. While these phrases might make sense to you and emphasize a point, to ELLs they might break down their comprehension. Students will probably end up with a literal translation that makes no sense. For example, saying it was a piece of cake will be translated to it was a portion of a dessert, not it was easy! Not only that, but ELLs might stop listening as they try to figure what that idiom means.
• Use gestures and total physical response (TPR). Language can sometimes be abstract and not precise. There can also be words that exist in English that do not exist in other languages. For example, toes do not have a Spanish equivalent. In Spanish, we have hand fingers and feet fingers. Using exaggerated gestures can help make the meaning of new vocabulary more clear to students. Using TPR, students also learn to associate a movement with a word, and that will make it more likely that they internalize that new vocabulary.

Collaborative Summarizing

Deedy Camarena is the coordinator for English-language development (ELD), dual and world languages, at the Santa Clara County Office of Education in California:

When English-language learners (ELLs) are acquiring another language, they must be able to make meaning. In order to make meaning, they must develop oracy (proficiency in oral expression and comprehension— Merriam Webster ). Utilizing purposeful dialogue to practice oracy expands student thinking. The most effective instructional strategy I’ve used to practice oracy is Collaborative Summarizing.

There are five steps to successfully implement Collaborative Summarizing. These steps allow ELLs to read, think, exchange information, and negotiate through dialogue. In preparation, the teacher must select a text appropriate for the students’ independent reading level, or lexile level, and determine the language demands. The purpose of reading the passage is to utilize the information to make meaning through oracy. However, you may find another purpose such as language functions , content, or to acquire background knowledge. Once the text has been selected and vetted by the teacher, the five-step Collaborative Summarizing can begin.

First, the teacher models how to identify the big ideas in the text. This may include the important people, things or ideas, what is occurring, and details. Then, the students individually read the text and determine 3-5 big ideas. Students utilize a graphic organizer specifically made for this strategy to record their information. Using those big ideas, students write a 15-word summary.

Second, students find one partner to dialogue with and “ create a negotiated list that reflects their combined agreement on the three to six most important ideas .” Once students have discussed the most important ideas, they turn them into one, collaborative 15-word summary. Teachers can strategically pair up students, or students can choose. Students must first determine the negotiating rules they will follow. For example, act respectively, cite evidence to prove your opinion, or use academic-language sentence frames, such as Kate Kinsella’s, for discussing and collaboration . Students use these sentence frames to support the function of negotiating and intentionally use academically language correctly. The purpose of negotiating with their partner is to “identify who or what is the most important in the section, [and] identify what the subject is doing,”( English Learner Toolkit of Strategies ).

Third, have each pair meet with another pair. One student from each pair reads their summary. Then, they dive in and renegotiate a common summary for their new group of four and add it to their graphic organizer.

Fourth, each group of four chooses another group of four to repeat the renegotiating process. Once again, the group will add this new summary to their graphic organizer.

Fifth, ask groups to edit their summaries for meaning, language, and word choice. As the focus of Collaborative Summarizing is utilizing purposeful dialogue to practice oracy, this could be an optional step.

Sixth, chose one student from the group to present the summary to the class. As ELLs have varying comfort levels of reading in front of a class, give the students time to practice in their group. Once a sufficient amount of time has passed, bring the class together to listen to the summaries.

Collaborative Summarizing helps students develop oracy and effectively utilize purposeful dialogue with a partner and a group to create a common product.

Thanks to Valentina, Denita, Cindy, and Deedy for their contributions!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo .

Education Week has published a collection of posts from this blog, along with new material, in an e-book form. It’s titled Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching .

Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email (The RSS feed for this blog, and for all Ed Week articles, has been changed by the new redesign—new ones are not yet available). And if you missed any of the highlights from the first nine years of this blog, you can see a categorized list below.

• This Year’s Most Popular Q&A Posts
• Race & Racism in Schools
• School Closures & the Coronavirus Crisis
• Classroom-Management Advice
• Best Ways to Begin the School Year
• Best Ways to End the School Year
• Student Motivation & Social-Emotional Learning
• Implementing the Common Core
• Facing Gender Challenges in Education
• Teaching Social Studies
• Cooperative & Collaborative Learning
• Using Tech in the Classroom
• Student Voices
• Parent Engagement in Schools
• Teaching English-Language Learners
• Reading Instruction
• Writing Instruction
• Education Policy Issues
• Differentiating Instruction
• Math Instruction
• Science Instruction
• Advice for New Teachers
• Author Interviews
• Entering the Teaching Profession
• The Inclusive Classroom
• Learning & the Brain
• Administrator Leadership
• Teacher Leadership
• Relationships in Schools
• Professional Development
• Instructional Strategies
• Best of Classroom Q&A
• Professional Collaboration
• Classroom Organization
• Mistakes in Education
• Project-Based Learning

I am also creating a Twitter list including all contributors to this column .

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Sign Up for EdWeek Update

Edweek top school jobs.

Sign Up & Sign In

10 Effective Writing Strategies For English Language Learners: Engaging Content That Inspires

Table of contents, introduction:, understanding the challenges of teaching writing to ells:, effective writing strategies for english language learners, pre-writing stage, 1. preparing for writing:, 2. modeling and guided practice:, 3. incorporating dialogue journals, process writing, 5. collecting organizing ideas and preparing an outline, 6. the drafting stage for ells, 7. revising and editing.

Revising and editing are critical stages in the writing process for ELLs. By facilitating peer review sessions for constructive feedback and self-improvement, leveraging technology tools such as assistive technology and digital dictionaries, and cultivating a growth mindset, educators can support ELLs in refining their writing and boosting their confidence.

Writing lesson management

8. promoting language development:, 9. encouraging peer collaboration and feedback:, 10. celebrating and showcasing ell writing:.

Remember to provide ongoing support, encouragement, and guidance to ELLs throughout the writing process. By implementing these practical suggestions, educators can create inclusive and empowering environments where ELLs can confidently share their writing with others, fostering language development and cultural exchange.

More tips to help students nail content writing and engage the audience

Plan and prepare:, craft a meaningful message:, hit the headline hard:, elicit feelings:, write to a reader:, activate with verbs:, express themselves:, tell stories:, arouse and teach:, conclusion:.

Building Strong Writers: Activities & Writing Strategies for ELL Students

Why is writing so hard? This is a question that teachers hear on a daily basis from students. There is no denying that writing is difficult. However, for English Language Learners (ELLs), writing is made even harder because they are doing a task outside of their native language.

We have compiled a list of the best activities and writing strategies for ELL students that are designed to alleviate your ESL students’ struggles.

• Before You Begin

To determine which strategies will work best for your students, ask these four questions before they start writing:

• Do they already know how to read in their first language?
• How similar is the student’s home language to the English alphabet and syntax?
• How often does the student have the opportunity to practice reading and writing in English?
• How much background knowledge does the student have about the writing topic?
• The Importance of Scaffolding Writing for ELLs

In education, scaffolding is a teaching method where teachers help students complete tasks just beyond the point that they could achieve by themselves. It was developed by Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who theorized that children learn best when an adult helps them expand upon what they already know and can do.

His theory birthed the concept of a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)—the area between what is known and unknown where students can achieve a task with guidance from a knowledgeable teacher. Over time, teachers gradually reduce support until the students can do the task themselves.

There are many benefits to scaffolding instruction for students:

• Tasks are simplified to make them more manageable.
• Student frustration is reduced.
• Students are better able to focus on learning objectives.
• Students build confidence in their abilities.

Scaffolding your instruction is key to the success of all students—especially ELLs.  When you make connections to what students already know, learning becomes more meaningful . Determining where and when scaffolding techniques are to be used (and later removed) is crucial in helping students reach their learning goals.

• ELL Writing Strategies for Scaffolding

ELLs benefit from scaffolding throughout the writing process. Below are a few types of scaffolding writing strategies for ELL students that can be used at any grade or language level.

1. Model Texts All ELL students need to see plenty of examples of the kind of writing you want them to produce. Model texts could be selected from high-quality literature, teacher-generated,  or student-authored pieces. Whatever text you select, make sure that it clearly demonstrates your learning objective.

2. Sentence Frames Sentence frames are sentences with strategically placed blanks for students to fill in. These are helpful for newcomers who are in the earlier stages of language proficiency, or for introducing a new type of sentence structure.

3. Sentence Stems Similar to sentence frames, sentence stems provide a prompt for students to begin writing. Sentence stems are more open-ended than sentence frames, but still offer structure and guidance for the writing activity.

4. Word Walls Word walls are an excellent scaffolding technique, as they can be customized to your language objectives. You may utilize a word wall for academic vocabulary terms or other important writing elements like signal words. You can make your word wall a more powerful teaching tool by making it interactive .

5. Graphic Organizers Beginning a writing task can be daunting for ELLs. Graphic organizers are effective teaching tools that help students visually organize information and break down writing into more manageable steps. Consider pre-filling parts of graphic organizers to scaffold for your ELLs.

• Writing Activities for ELL Students

When teaching writing to English language learners, it’s important to use authentic writing activities that allow them to write about their experiences. We’ve compiled a list of engaging writing activities along with scaffolding techniques to help each of your ELLs build their writing skills.

How to Journal with ELLs

• Student journaling can be an effective activity to help ELL students build confidence and develop writing skills. There are many different ways that teachers can use journaling in the classroom. Personal journals, dialogue journals, and content-specific journals such as science or math notebooks are all helpful teaching tools. For a more in-depth look at how journaling can benefit ELL students, read our article here .

Benefits for ELLs

• Journals can be used by ELLs of any proficiency level.
• Students have the opportunity to write in their native language .
• When used intentionally, journals can expand students’ vocabulary and higher-order thinking skills.

Strategies for ELLs

• For newcomers or those who have limited proficiency, consider allowing them to draw in their journals and label their pictures.
• Use picture dictionaries or other visuals to help students bridge their understanding between words that they know in their native language and English words.
• Provide sentence starters or writing prompts to help students get started with their writing.

Sequential Writing

How to do Sequential Writing with ELLs

• Have the students write the steps to do a familiar task like getting ready for school or making breakfast. Students can practice using new and unfamiliar words along with a routine activity.
• Sequencing is an important skill for reading comprehension and scientific inquiry.
• By selecting a familiar activity, you will ensure that ELL students have the background knowledge necessary for the activity.
• Students’ home cultures can be incorporated by including the activity as homework for ESL students—have students ask their parents to tell them the steps for making their favorite meal.
• Provide pictures for students to put in the correct order for a familiar activity. Have students practice labeling or matching words with the pictures. Reinforce keywords like “first,” “next,” “then,” etc.
• For students with progressing language skills, divide a paper into four sections. Have the students draw and label pictures for each step.
• Provide a sequence graphic organizer for ELL students to write the steps to the activity.

Creative Writing

How to Use Creative Writing with ELLs

• Short, creative writing activities can provide ELLs with engaging written expression examples and ideas.
• Have students write a social media post , like a tweet, about a current event or even as a book review.
• As part of a social studies unit, give ELL students an assignment to write a postcard from a country that they have been learning about in class or their native country.
• For students with more advanced language skills, have them create a fictional ad to introduce and practice persuasive writing .
• Incorporating social media activities can enhance ESL students’ digital literacy .
• Short, engaging activities reduce the cognitive load for ELL students while increasing their motivation.
• Use model texts so that students are familiar with the type of writing you assign.
• Create a word bank or personal word wall for students to reference relevant vocabulary words.

How to Use Poetry with ELLs

• The text in poetry is both purposeful and brief, so ELL students can understand the main point without becoming overwhelmed.
• Poetry offers opportunities for students to engage with language in a playful way.
• Poems are an excellent way to incorporate your students’ native cultures into your classroom.
• To scaffold, first create a poem as a group , then have students work in smaller groups or pairs to write independently.
• Have students create word maps to help them generate relevant vocabulary or varying adjectives to make their poetry more interesting.
• Writing Programs for ELLs from Continental

Continental understands there are many different writing programs to choose from when teaching writing to English language learners. Our ELL writing programs are developed with the latest research and teacher-backed activities and feature the best writing strategies to support language development.

My Language Journal

My Language Journal is a series of personal journals that provides ELLs with opportunities to practice their writing skills and develop their vocabulary through visual learning activities. My Language Journal can be used for grades K–12.

• Uses personal writing prompts to engage ELLs
• Customizable word logs help make learning meaningful
• Topics for social-emotional learning (SEL) and content areas
• Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary support

The Write Track for English Learners

The Write Track for English Learners focuses on writing development to help ELLs develop their written communication skills. It also helps students gain confidence with classroom writing assignments and state testing requirements. It’s designed for grades K–12 and English language proficiency levels 2–5.

• Provides complete instruction for a variety of writing areas
• Step-by-step instruction with guided practice and peer review
• Correlated to English language development (ELD) standards
• Interactive eBooks with online answering, instant scoring for immediate feedback, and performance reports

Instructional ELs workbooks feature a gradual release model to help English learners make gains in classroom writing.

Writing can be difficult even for native English speakers. Thankfully there are many ways to help ESL students not feel overwhelmed and discouraged. By using these writing strategies, you can help your students begin to feel more confident in their English language skills.

Thank you to Ellen Richardson, our ELL contributor, for consulting on this blog post.

520 East Bainbridge Street Elizabethtown, PA 17022 Phone: 800.233.0759 Fax: 888.834.1303

• Privacy Policy

©2024 Continental. All Rights Reserved.

Found the perfect materials for your classroom? Email your shopping cart to your school/district contacts to request purchasing approval. Step #1: Save My Cart Step #2: Personalize My Email

ESL Activities

ESL Games, Activities, Lesson Plans, Jobs & More

ESL Writing Activities, Games, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

If you’re teaching writing and are looking for some of the best ESL writing activities, along with worksheets, lesson plans and more then you’re in the right place. Keep on reading for everything you need to know about teaching English writing.

ESL writing exercises and games

Let’s check out the top ESOL writing exercises and activities to consider trying out with your students.

ESL Writing Activities and Games for All Ages

Are you ready to get into the ESL writing exercises? Then let’s get to the best English writing ideas. Also, check out some great writing prompts ideas to use in your writing lesson.

Please enable JavaScript

#1: 3 Things ESL Writing Activity

I’m ALL about simple and easy for writing activities in emergency situations when you don’t have a lot of time to prep. 3 Things is ideal because it requires nothing except a pen and paper and also requires no prep time.

The way it works is that students think of 3 random things. Then, they give those words to a partner who has to write a short story using them. It can be serious or silly and kind of depends on the words chosen.

Do you want to give it a try with your students? Check out all the details here: 3 Things English Writing Activity .

#2: Journaling for English Learners

When I teach ESL writing classes, I always have students keep a journal. It can either be with pen and paper or online. It’s a fun way for students to work on writing fluency and have some freedom to write about topics they want to write about, not just the ones that I assign.

If you want to see how I set up this ESL writing exercise, check out the following: Journaling for ESL Students . It makes a nice free write activity.

#3: Postcards ESOL Writing Exercise

If you’re looking for a simple, fun ESL writing activity, then you may want to consider having your students write some postcards. Ideally, you could get your hands of a stack of blank, unused postcards. But, if not, students can design their own and then trade with someone else who can fill in the back.

Learn more about this fun writing activity here: ESL Postcard Writing Activity .

#4: A to Z Alphabet Game

Remember that writing is more than a 5-paragraph essay. It’s any time a student is writing something, even one word. With that in mind, you may want to try out this ESL writing game for beginners.

The way it works is that you name a topic. Jobs or animals for example. Then, students have to think of one word for each letter. I give my students a certain amount of time and the team with the most words is the winner.

Do you want to give this writing activity for beginners a try? Check it out here: A-Z ESL Writing Activity .

#5: Conjunctions and Transitions

Words like but, so, and, however, etc. are key in English writing because they join ideas, sentences and paragraphs together. This makes writing easier to understand and helps it to flow better. Even beginners can learn about using things like and or but.

Here are some of the ideas for teaching these words: ESL Conjunction and Transition Activities .

• Amazon Kindle Edition
• Bolen, Jackie (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 85 Pages - 02/02/2020 (Publication Date)

#6: Whiteboard Games for ESL Writing Practice 

I don’t know why, but students really love to write on the whiteboard. There are a ton of relay type ESL writing activities that you can do. Here are some of the best ones:

ESL Whiteboard Activities .

#7: Dictogloss ESOL Writing Exercise

If you want to challenge your students with some serious listening and writing, then consider this dictogloss ESL activity. The way it works is that you find a passage or write one at an appropriate level for your students.

Then, put the student into pairs and read out the passage at a slightly faster pace than normal. Students have to take notes and then attempt to recreate what they heard by writing. Read the passage again and students add to what they have. Finally, they can compare their version with the original one.

Do you want to give it a try? Read this first: Dictogloss ESL Writing and Listening Activity .

#8: How to Teach English Writing to Beginners

Back when I did the CELTA course, my tutor told me that writing doesn’t have to be a 5 paragraph essay. It can actually be any time the students are writing something in English. With this in mind, here are some of the best activities for absolute beginners to English writing:

Teaching ESL Writing to Beginners .

#9: Fill out an Application Form

One very practical writing activity that we can do with our students is getting them to fill out an application form. If they plan on living in an English speaking country, they’ll certainly have to do this. And, there’s often some very specific vocabulary and expected answers that you can help them with.

More details here: ESL Writing Application Form .

#10: Sentence Structure Activities

Try out these activities to give students some ESL writing practice opportunities.

In speaking, our students can sometimes get away without having great sentence structure. This is because people often speak in sentence fragments and rarely in full sentences.

However, in writing, sentence structure is key and vital to helping our students get their ideas across on paper. Here are some of the best activities to help our students practice this:

ESL Sentence Structure Games and Activities .

ESL writing games and activities

#11: Is that Sentence Correct?

A simple reading and writing activity is this one that focuses on error correction. The way it works is that you make some sentences, some of which have errors and some that do not. Students have to decide which ones are incorrect and them correct them. It’s ideal for review at the end of class or the beginning of the next one.

Learn more about this writing activity here: ESL Error Correction Activity .

#12: Proof-Reading and Editing

A key part of writing well is proof-reading and editing. Everyone does it, even professional writers! Instead of the students relying on me to correct their errors for them, I like to teach them do to edit their own work. It’s a key skill in the writing process but often overlooked by many English teachers.

Check out this activity for helping students with this writing skill: ESL Proofreading and Editing .

• 146 Pages - 06/18/2020 (Publication Date)

Spending some time working on self-editing skills, instead of relying on the teacher-editing model is a nice way to improve student autonomy in English writing classes.

#13: Focus on Fluency Activity

Many ESL writing textbooks (and teachers too) focus on accuracy in English writing at the expense of fluency. However, both are needed if students are to become proficient in English essay writing. After all, no employer is going to appreciate an employee who can write a simple, but perfect email in half a day! Most would expect it to happen in a few minutes. But, this nice free write activity helps students with writing more quickly.

Check out this ESOL writing exercise to help our students out with this: Fluency ESL Writing Activity .

#14: How to Teach ESL Writing on the Let’s Talk TEFL Podcast

#15: word association.

I like to use this quick writing activity if I know that students have studied the topic of the day before. For example, jobs and weather are very common in almost all ESL textbooks and if students are at a high-beginner or intermediate level, I guarantee that they already know some of these vocabulary items.

You can find out how to do it right here: ESL Word Association Activity .

#16 : ESL Surveys

I love to use surveys in my classes. They are a super versatile activity that covers all 4 skills, including writing. It’s also easy to make a survey for just about any topic or grammar point. See why I love them so much?

If you want to know more, then you’ll want to check this out: TEFL Surveys.

• Smith, Jennifer Booker (Author)
• 134 Pages - 03/31/2016 (Publication Date)

#17: Opinion Activities and Games

Opinion essays are a classic writing activity for both English learners and students in high school or university. That’s why I like to give my students some chances to practice writing and supporting their opinions in my classes. Do you want to try out some of the best ones? You can find out all the details right here:

ESL Opinion Activities .

#18: Parts of Speech Activities for ESL

English writing is ALL about parts of speech. After all, if you don’t know where the verb, subject, object, adjectives and adverbs go, how can you have any chance of making a coherent English sentence? It’s nearly impossible!

That’s why I like to do some worksheets and practice with my students related to this. If you want to try it out too, here are some of the best ideas:

ESL Parts of Speech Activities .

Top 17 ESL writing games and activities

#19: Spelling Challenge Game

Spelling is an important, but often neglected part of writing. In my opinion, it’s worth spending some classroom time on and one way to do that is with this word challenge game. Because it’s done on the whiteboard, it’s ideal for smaller classes.

Want to find out what it’s all about? You can right here: ESL Spelling Challenge Activity.

#20: Dictation 

A nice TEFL writing activity that you might want to try out is dictation. It covers not only writing, but also listening, spelling, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary in a big way. Is it obvious why I like it so much?

Try it out with your students today. Learn more here: ESL Dictation Writing Activity .

#21: Write an Interesting Story in English

It can be fun to get students to write their own stories in English. Check out these 6 simple steps to get started:

Writing and Interesting English Story .

#22: TEFL Writing Activities and Games

#23: brainstorm games and activities.

One of my favourite, simple ESL writing activities is to get students to brainstorm words or things related to a certain topic or category. It’s a nice way to get some creative juices flowing and can also be used for a quick warmer or review activity.

There are a number of engaging, student-centred activities to consider. Here are some of my favourites: Brain Storming Games.

#24: Freeze Writing Activity

Group writing activities for TEFL classes are few and far between. However, freeze is one of the best ones to consider. Students have to work collaboratively to make stories, line by line is a fun and engaging way.

Want to give it a try? Find out how: Freeze Activity .

#25: Five-Paragraph Essay Writing

For higher-level students, it can be a worthwhile activity to teach students how to write academic essays. Here’s an outline and some tips for how to do that:

Five-Paragraph Essay Template . 

#26: More Ideas for TEFL Writing

#27: fill in the blank sentences games.

A nice option for beginners in English writing is to use fill in the blanks. This adds a bit of structure to it and makes it much easier for students! Have a look at some of my favourite options:

Fill In The Blank Sentences Games .

#28: Round Robin Story

Try out this simple story writing activity that can be used for speaking & listening, or writing. Learn more:

Round Robin Story .

#29: Five Senses

Try out this simple activity that involves a lot of adjectives. It can be done with speaking or writing.

#30: Story Starters ESOL Writing Exercise

Provide students with a sentence or a short paragraph to serve as a story starter. Students then continue the story, adding their own ideas and developing the plot. This game encourages creativity, storytelling, and writing fluency. Try out one of my favourite ESOL writing exercises!

#31: Picture Prompts

Show students a captivating image or provide them with a set of pictures. Ask them to choose one or a combination of pictures and write a story, description, or dialogue based on the visuals. Pictures can stimulate imagination and inspire students to write.

#32: Sentence Relay

Divide the class into teams. Give each team a writing prompt or topic. The first student from each team writes a sentence based on the prompt, then passes the paper to the next student, who adds another sentence. The relay continues, and students build a coherent piece of writing. The team with the most creative and well-structured writing wins.

#33: ESL Writing Olympics

Create a series of writing challenges that test different writing skills, such as grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, or creative writing. Set a time limit for each challenge, and award points to students based on their performance. Students can compete individually or in teams, making it a lively and competitive writing activity.

ESL Writing FAQs

There are a number of common questions that people have about teaching English writing. Here are the answers to some of the most popular ones.

What is ESL Writing?

ESL technically refers to English as a Second Language but the more common usage is anyone who is a non-native speaker of English, whether or not it’s their second, third or fourth language. ESL writing focus specifically on writing skills.

How can ESL Students Improve Writing?

There are a number of ways that ESL students can improve their writing skills:

• Practice, both in class and outside of class is key.
• Give students a reason to write.
• Use peer correction.
• Offer self-editing checklists.
• Give students some freedom to choose what to write about.
• Use a variety of writing activities and games.
• Give students a chance to revise their work based on feedback.
• Strive to make English writing fun and engaging
• Make it relevant to real-life.
• Ensure that your ESL writing classes target the level of the students.

How Can ESL Beginners Learn to Write?

Remember that ESL beginners will not be able to write a 5-paragraph academic essay. Instead, you may want to focus on things like filling in the blanks on a worksheet or writing very simple sentences with a subject, verb, and object.

Why is Writing Difficult for ESL Students?

Writing can be a little bit difficult for ESL students because it not only involves vocabulary and grammar, but things like punctuation, capital letters as well as style and other writing conventions. What does make it easier is that it doesn’t happen in real time like with speaking.

What types of writing assignments are suitable for English learners?

Start with simple assignments like journal writing, personal narratives, and gradually progress to more complex assignments such as essays and reports.

How can I make writing more engaging for English learners?

Make it engaging by using interesting prompts, creative assignments, and real-life scenarios that connect to their experiences and interests.

Should I focus on grammar and vocabulary in writing instruction?

Yes, grammar and vocabulary are essential components of writing. Students should learn to use them correctly to convey their ideas effectively.

What’s the role of peer review in teaching writing to English learners?

Peer review helps students develop critical reading and editing skills, and it allows them to receive feedback from peers before finalizing their work.

How can I help English learners overcome writer’s block?

Encourage them to start with a simple outline, use writing prompts, and create a supportive, low-pressure writing environment in the classroom.

What strategies can I use to assess English learners’ writing effectively?

Use rubrics and clear criteria for assessing content, organization, grammar, and vocabulary. Offer specific feedback to help students understand their strengths and weaknesses.

Did you Like these ESOL Writing Exercises?

• 72 Pages - 12/09/2019 (Publication Date) - Independently published (Publisher)

Yes? Thought so. Then you’re going to love this book you can easily find on Amazon: ESL Writing Activities, Games & Teaching Tips . It’s the first and only ESL activity book dedicated exclusively to teaching writing and it’s a must-have if you’re teaching these kinds of classes.

You can easily get these ESL writing activities in both digital and print formats. Consider keeping a copy on the bookshelf in your office and using it as a handy reference guide. Or, bring the digital version with you on your phone or tablet to your favourite coffee shop for some serious lesson planning for your English writing classes.

It really is that easy to have ESL writing classes! Check out the book on Amazon, but only if you want to get yourself a serious dose of ESL teaching awesome in your life:

Do you Have an ESL Writing Grading Rubric?

If you’re looking for a bit of guidance on how to evaluate your students’ writing, then you’re in the right place. We strongly recommend using a simple rubric that’ll save you a ton of time. Plus, students will understand why they got the grade that they did. All the details can be found here:

ESL Writing Grading Rubric .

ESL Writing Lesson Plans

If you’re looking for some ready-made writing lesson plans that can help your students improve their skills in a big way, you’ll want to check out our top recommendations:

One Stop English

ESL Library

Writing practice for English learners

ESL Writing Worksheets

The good news for English teachers is that there are a ton of English writing worksheets to help you out with just about anything! Why reinvent the wheel if another English teacher has already done the hard work, right? Here are some of the best ESL writing worksheets:

Busy Teacher

ESL Writing Assignments

If you’re not sure about writing assignment options for your ESL/EFL students, here are some of the best ideas that you’ll want to check out:

Tips for Teaching Writing to English Learners

Teaching writing to ESL learners requires a combination of strategies to develop their skills and confidence. Here are some tips to enhance your ESL writing lessons:

Provide Clear Instructions

Begin each writing task by clearly explaining the objectives, requirements, and expectations to the students. Break down the task into smaller steps to make it more manageable.

Model Writing

Show students examples of well-written texts in the target genre or format. Analyze the structure, language features, and organization. Model the thought process and decision-making involved in writing.

Teach the Writing Process

Introduce students to the writing process, which includes prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Emphasize the importance of brainstorming, organizing ideas, and revising for clarity and coherence.

Develop Vocabulary and Language Skills

Help students expand their vocabulary and language skills by providing word banks, relevant phrases, and sentence starters. Teach them how to use transition words and cohesive devices to enhance the flow of their writing.

Focus on Grammar and Sentence Structure in TEFL Writing Games and Activities

Address common grammar errors and sentence structure issues that students may encounter. Incorporate targeted grammar exercises and provide feedback on their writing to improve accuracy.

Encourage Pre-writing Activities

Engage students in pre-writing activities, such as brainstorming, mind mapping, or outlining, to generate ideas and organize their thoughts before starting to write. This helps students structure their writing more effectively.

Provide Writing Prompts

Offer a variety of engaging and relevant writing prompts to spark students’ creativity and interest. Ensure the prompts are aligned with their language proficiency level and encourage critical thinking and personal expression. Here are some ideas:

Peer Feedback and Revision

Incorporate peer feedback sessions where students exchange their writing with classmates for constructive feedback. Encourage students to revise their work based on the suggestions provided, promoting collaboration and revision skills.

Offer Individualized Support

Provide one-on-one guidance and support to students who may require additional assistance. Offer personalized feedback and suggestions for improvement based on their individual writing challenges.

Celebrate Progress

Recognize and celebrate students’ progress in writing. Highlight their strengths and areas of improvement, and provide specific feedback on their achievements. Encourage a growth mindset and foster a positive writing environment.

Encourage Frequent Writing Practice

Assign regular writing assignments to give students ample opportunities to practice their writing skills. Provide a variety of writing tasks, such as descriptive essays, opinion pieces, narratives, or reflective journal entries.

Use Authentic Materials for ESL Writing Activities

Integrate authentic materials like newspaper articles, short stories, or blog posts to expose students to real-life writing and develop their understanding of different writing styles and genres.

Have your say about these ESL Writing Activities and Exercises

What do you think about these writing ESL activities? Did you try out one of them from this or have another that you’d like to recommend? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.  We’d love to hear from you.

Also be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other busy English teachers, like yourself find this useful resource for teaching English writing.

Last update on 2022-07-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 60 books for English teachers and English learners, including Business English Vocabulary Builder and 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities for Teenagers and Adults . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at: YouTube Facebook Pinterest TikTok LinkedIn Instagram

Top Selling ESL Activity Book

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

More ESL Activities and Games

Gardening tool names in english with pictures, esl conversation topics for beginners | top 20 tefl topics, future forms: esl activities, games, worksheets + more, reflexive pronoun activities, games, worksheets & lesson plans, about, contact, privacy policy.

Best-selling author and English teacher Jackie Bolen has been talking ESL activities and games since 2015. The goal is to bring you the best ideas, lesson plans, and activity recommendations for your TEFL classes.

Get in touch: About + Contact

Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

Email: [email protected]

Address: 2436 Kelly Ave, Port Coquitlam, Canada

English Language Learners (ELL): Websites: Reading & Writing

• LIBRARY VOCABULARY
• Books & More: Online Catalog
• Browse the Library Shelves
• Articles: Print Collection
• Articles: Online Databases
• Websites: Listening & Speaking
• Websites: Reading & Writing
• Websites: Activities, Quizzes, Test Prep
• Videos: Streaming Media
• Other Resources

TRANSLATION TOOLS

• Google Translate "Google's free service instantly translates words, phrases, and web pages between English and over 100 other languages."
• MS Word Translator Language translation feature within Microsoft Word. Located under the "Review" tab in the ribbon menu.
• Bing Translator Online translator also managed by Microsoft. Great for shorter text translations.

DICTIONARIES AND WORD FINDERS

• Acronym Finder A dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initials.
• Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary Includes audio pronunciation guide, thesaurus, word games, and a Learner's Dictionary for ESL students.
• Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary Online When you know what something looks like but not what it’s called, the Visual Dictionary will help you match the word to the image.
• OneLook Dictionary Search A search engine for words and phrases, offering both definitions and translations. Indexes more than 900 online dictionaries.

ESSAY WRITING FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

READING COMPREHENSION

English reading help including reading comprehension quizzes and tests, reading lesson plans, reading types and strategies.

• English Reading Comprehension from ESL Gold Reading exercises, learning strategies and quizzes to improve English reading comprehension.
• English Reading Comprehension Skills for ESL EFL Learners English reading help including reading comprehension quizzes and tests, reading lesson plans, reading types and strategies.
• EnglishClub.com: Reading English Includes poetry, short stories with vocabulary and comprehension quizzes, and author biographies.
• U.S.A. Learns Practice activities in listening, writing, speaking, and life skills necessary for success at work and in the community. Click on the Practice English and Reading link for intermediate-level stories and activities.

WRITING AND GRAMMAR HELP

• Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation Basic rules of grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and writing numbers.
• Citation Help Research Guide Tools to help you cite your sources correctly in APA, MLA, or Chicago style.
• A Digital Workbook for Beginning ESOL (eBook) Three levels of interactive grammar and reading activities for beginning and intermediate students of ESOL.
• EnglishClub.com: English Grammar Grammar lessons with accompanying quizzes to check your understanding. Includes a glossary of grammar terms.
• EnglishClub.com: English Writing Covers use of capital letters, spelling rules, punctuation, sentence variety, peer editing, and plagiarism.
• ESL Resources from Purdue's Online Writing Lab Resource pages and handouts for English language learners and teachers.
• Guide to Grammar and Writing Grammar help organized by level and skill type. The Word and Sentence category is particularly useful for English language learners.
• Madison College Writing Center One-on-one tutoring, online conferencing, and group workshop,s providing guidance to Madison College students at all stages of the writing process.
• U.S.A. Learns Practice activities in listening, writing, speaking, and life skills necessary for success at work and in the community.

VOCABULARY BUILDERS AND SPELLING ACTIVITIES

• American Idioms Click on an idiom for a sample paragraph providing a definition of the idiom and an illustration of how it is used.
• American Slang Definitions, sample sentences, etymology, and synonyms.
• Internet Picture Dictionary A picture dictionary for beginning English, French, German, Spanish and Italian language learners.
• Language Guide Sound-integrated resources for 13 different languages (with a choice of 21 native language interfaces). Particularly helpful for vocabulary building and word pronunciation.
• Spelling Activities Spelling games and quizzes from Interesting Things for ESL Students

TOPICS: AN ONLINE MAGAZINE FOR LEARNERS OF ENGLISH

A place where people learning English can share stories, ideas and opinions, travel information, recipes, poetry, and more.

• << Previous: Websites: Listening & Speaking
• Next: Websites: Activities, Quizzes, Test Prep >>
• Last Updated: Apr 24, 2024 2:22 PM
• URL: https://libguides.madisoncollege.edu/ell

1701 Wright Street | Madison, Wisconsin 53704 | Libraries: 608.246.6640 | Student Achievement Centers: 608.246.6125 | College Info: 608.246.6100

• University of Wisconsin–Madison
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Research Guides
• ESL/ELL Education
• Interactive Websites for Learning

ESL/ELL Education : Interactive Websites for Learning

• Lesson Plans
• Stats & Facts
• Organizations & People
• Certification & Jobs

Ask a Librarian at MERIT

If chat is offline, click here to Ask a Librarian via UW-Madison Libraries general library help chat .

ESL/ELL Interactive Websites for Learning

Instructional videos, including workout videos.  Useful for lesson planning or learning new skills.

• Starfall Great early-literacy practice for English Language Learners.
• Learn English Using Online Resources Free ESOL Websites listed by New York Public Library: These general ESOL websites offer many types of activities (grammar, listening, pronunciation, vocabulary, reading, etc.) for language learners of all levels.
• English Media Lab Homepage Exercises for all English learners including online grammar exercises, vocabulary videos, pronunciation exercises, and interactive quizzes for beginning, intermediate and advanced learners.
• American English Resources American English Resources provide materials for teachers' professional development and for students in the classroom. Find classroom activities, audiobooks, MP3s, videos and pedagogical material to assist in learning English as a second language. Students can also explore American culture through various materials. Resources include popular American classics, in-house publications and links to U.S. government websites and podcasts.
• International Children's Digital Library Free digitized picture books in multiple languages. Great for ESL students.
• ESL Videos ESLvideo.com provides educational resources for English as a Second Language Students to improve their listening, speaking, grammar, and vocabulary skills. The quiz activities and lessons are created by teachers, and are free to use in class, lab, or at home.
• ManyThings.org ESL Videos This web site is for people studying English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL). There are quizzes, word games, word puzzles, proverbs, slang expressions, anagrams, a random-sentence generator and other computer-assisted language learning activities.
• LearnEnglish Kids LearnEnglish Kids has lots of free online games, songs, stories and activities for children to have fun and learn English too.
• English Interactive English Interactive provides activities for speaking, listening, reading, writing and more.
• ESL Cyber Listening Lab Includes vocabulary lessons, listening quizzes, and study guides for English Language Learners.
• ESL Fast Includes over 1,000 conversations and scripts for beginning, intermediate and advanced English Language Learners.
• BITS English Language Learning Collection of recorded books, novellas, short stories, speeches, and songs with read-along text.
• << Previous: News
• Next: Stats & Facts >>
• Last Updated: Mar 4, 2024 12:43 PM
• URL: https://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/ESL

Breadcrumbs Section. Click here to navigate to respective pages.

Writing Sense

DOI link for Writing Sense

Get Citation

Writing is all about making meaning. The prospect of teaching writing to a classroom full of students—some who speak English and some who don't, can be overwhelming. When students learning English are at different levels, the task is even more challenging. Writing Sense: Integrated Reading and Writing Lessons for English Language Learners outlines the classroom conditions necessary for successful writing instruction with English language learners, whether in writing workshop and/or small-group instruction. It includes 68 classroom-tested lessons for grades K 8 that show kids at all levels of language acquisition how to make connections, ask questions, visualize (make mental images), infer, determine importance, synthesize, monitor meaning and comprehension, and use fix-up strategies. The five main sections are geared to the stages of language proficiency, and lessons are divided into younger and older students, spanning kindergarten through to grade eight. There are extensive lists of suggested books for mentor texts as well as lists of mentor authors to facilitate teachers' planning and instruction.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 | 15  pages, introduction, chapter 2 | 21  pages, best practices, chapter 3 | 14  pages, assessing writing, chapter 4 | 7  pages, selecting texts and mentor authors, chapter 5 | 15  pages, preproduction, chapter 6 | 21  pages, early production, chapter 7 | 27  pages, speech emergence, chapter 8 | 30  pages, intermediate, chapter 9 | 27  pages.

• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• Cookie Policy
• Taylor & Francis Online
• Taylor & Francis Group
• Students/Researchers
• Librarians/Institutions

Connect with us

Registered in England & Wales No. 3099067 5 Howick Place | London | SW1P 1WG © 2024 Informa UK Limited

Jump to navigation Jump to Content

• Newsletters

Search form

• Supporting ELLs Through COVID-19
• New to Teaching ELLs?
• ELL Glossary
• Special Populations
• Resources by Grade
• ELL Resources by State
• ELL Policy & Research
• ELL News Headlines
• Serving and Supporting Immigrant Students
• Special Education and ELLs
• Social and Emotional Support for ELLs
• ELL School Enrollment
• Bilingual & Dual-Language Education: Overview
• COVID-19 & ELLs
• College Readiness for ELLs
• ELL Program Planning
• Events During the School Year
• Programs for Success
• School Libraries
• ELL Family Outreach
• For Administrators
• For Paraprofessionals
• Supporting Newcomer Students: Resource Gallery
• Creating a Welcoming Classroom
• ELL Classroom Strategy Library

ELL Strategies & Best Practices

• Language & Vocabulary Instruction
• Literacy Instruction
• Content Instruction for ELLs
• Common Core
• Technology & ELLs
• The Role of ESL Teachers
• Navigating Tough Topics in the Classroom: Tips for ELL Educators
• Help Your Child Learn to Read
• Learning Together at Home
• The Preschool Years
• Schools and Families: An Important Partnership
• School Success
• Raising Bilingual Kids
• Technology at Home
• Resources for Parents of Teens
• Visiting the Public Library
• When Your Children Need Extra Help
• Colorín Colorado Book Finder
• Books for Young Children
• Books for Kids
• Books for Young Adults
• Books for Professionals
• Diverse Books: Resource Guide
• Pura Belpré: Her Life and Legacy
• Literacy Calendar
• Meet the Authors
• Classroom Videos
• Advice for New Teachers of ELLs
• Meet the Experts
• Meet the Administrator
• Facebook Live Series
• PBS Show: Becoming Bilingual
• Being Bilingual Is a Superpower!
• Family Literacy: Multilingual Video Series
• Supporting ELLs During COVID-19: Educator Voices
• Administrators
• Paraprofessionals
• Parents & Families
• ELL Resource Collections
• Guides & Toolkits
• Multilingual Tips for Families
• Reading Tips for Parents (Multilingual)
• Reading Tips for Educators
• Topics A to Z
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Research & Reports
• Web Resources
• Colorín Colorado Blog
• Natural Disaster Resources for Schools
• Responding to a Crisis

This section provides specific ideas and strategies to support ELLs' language and literacy development, such as tips for planning lessons and the use of language objectives, as well as broader approaches such as using informal assessment and differentiation for varying language levels.

ELL Strategy Library

For more ideas, see our ELL Classroom Strategy Library !

Major support provided by our founding partner, the AFT.

With generous support provided by the National Education Association.

What You'll Find in This Section

Strategies for ell success: a guide for educators.

Learn how educators can support the success of their English language learners (ELLs). They will be useful for a wide range of audiences, including new and veteran teachers of ELLs, paraprofessionals, tutors, and administrators at the school and district level.

Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages

Lesson Planning for ELLs

When planning a lesson for a class that includes English language learners (ELLs), it may be difficult to know how to help students at different language levels participate fully in the activities. However, there are a number of steps you can take to help strengthen students' language development and engage them, no matter their level of language proficiency.

Classroom Strategies and Tools

There are a number of ways to support, or scaffold, instruction for ELLs, even if they are at beginning levels of English proficiency.  These ideas from veteran educators can help make content more accessible and provide students with an opportunity to participate in all classroom activities. 

The Role of Background Knowledge

One of the most critical components of helping English language learners (ELLs) succeed academically is the role of background knowledge. Lessons, reading passages, and test questions that assume prior knowledge or familiarity with a certain experience, person, or object may not be an appropriate tool for ELLs who lack the required background knowledge to understand the content.

Differentiation & RTI for English Language Learners

Each student comes to school not only with unique academic needs but also with unique background experiences, culture, language, personality, interests, and attitudes toward learning. Effective teachers recognize that all of these factors affect how students learn in the classroom, and they adjust, or differentiate, their instruction to meet students' needs.

Here are some strategies for differentiating instruction for your English language learners, as well as ideas for taking students' level of English language proficiency into account when planning instruction.

Differentiation & RTI for English Language Learners

Using Informal Assessment in the Classroom

Assessment plays a variety of roles in the instruction of English language learners (ELLs). One of the most important uses of assessment is informal, ongoing assessment throughout the school year (also called formative assessment) to monitor student learning and target areas of instruction. This can be as simple as asking students to show "thumbs up or thumbs down" to show their understanding or asking students to share one thing they learned on an exit slip at the end of class.

Peer Learning and ELLs

Classmates are a valuable resource in helping English language learners succeed, whether by showing students around the school on their first day or serving as a buddy in the clasroom. Peers can help build student confidence and also act as language models, giving ELLs a chance to practice their new language skills in a low-stress setting.

Achieving Success: From the Heart

Need some help finding ways to help your English language learners? Read these inspirational stories about English language learners, teachers and paraprofessionals who have overcome obstacles standing to achieve success.

Bright Ideas for Teaching ELLs

What's even better than a bright idea? A bright idea that works! Educators from across the country have discovered excellent ways to tackle some common classroom stumbling blocks. Below are their step-by-step suggestions on how to handle issues like the fourth-grade slump or the development of critical thinking skills.

Project-Based Learning for ELLs

Project-based learning (PBL) offers many benefits to English language learners (ELLs), including hands-on activities, peer interaction, rich language use, and a chance to explore personal interests.

ELLs may need some additional support or guidance in order to make the most of PBL, and the following resources share ideas on how to make it a successful experience for all students.

Strengths-Based Instruction for English Language Learners

Designing instruction based on student strengths (what the student can do ) provides an important foundation for success and offers opportunities to build upon those strengths in order to address areas where the student is struggling. Learn more about this approach from the following resources and videos.

Featured Video

Principal nathaniel provencio: the gifts that ells bring to school.

Using realia to build background knowledge

Assessment for English Language Learners

You Are Welcome Here: Supporting the Social and Emotional Health of Newcomer Immigrants

ESOL Specialist Sheila Majdi: Using sentence frames with ELLs

Classroom Strategies for Newcomer ELLs in Middle School

Building a cereal dispenser with ELLs through the Rube Goldberg project

"Rockville's Got Talent": Giving all students a chance to share their talents

Teaching vocabulary with digital cameras

How I group ELLs for peer learning

Let’s get it right the first time

ELLs with special education needs are entitled to both ELL and special education services

What makes RTI effective or ineffective with ELLs

Building upon student strengths: The "Can Do" Approach

Assessment can take a variety of forms

Differentiating assignments in a Social Studies lesson

Using technology to differentiate in the classroom

Having trouble with the way questions are worded

Quick ways to check understanding

Jessica Panfil: Formative Assessment for ELLs

Big trends in the field: RTI and ESL training

Identifying student strengths

Classroom Strategies for 4th-Grade Language Arts

Assessment for ELLs in the Classroom

Taking risks.

Lesson planning

Comparing two texts with Venn diagrams

Supporting struggling readers in high school

Background knowledge

How vocabulary can get in the way of solving a word problem

Focusing on language with the Common Core

Background Knowledge

Cooperative learning

Building on background knowledge

Higher-level questions: Thinking about magic

Before reading: Background knowledge

Peer interaction

Answering guiding questions with middle school ELLs

Chapter walk with me!

Writing a cooperative paragraph

Using a concept sort with ELLs

Building Social Studies Background Knowledge

• Our Mission

Resources for Teaching English-Language Learners

From literacy instruction to arts and technology integration, explore strategies for engaging English-language learners.

General Tips and Strategies

• Do's & Don'ts for Teaching English-Language Learners : Explore six best practices for working effectively with English-language learners. (Edutopia, Updated 2016)
• Equity for English-Language Learners : Provide equitable accommodations by implementing quality instructional practices and resources: fair assessments, free use of dictionaries and thesauruses, extra time, and the option of multiple media. (Edutopia, 2016)
• Strategies and Resources for Supporting English-Language Learners : Examine faulty assumptions about teaching English-language learners, discover helpful websites, and find articles that discuss good strategies. A classroom tip sheet called " Strategies to Support English-Language Learners " is available for download. (Edutopia, 2015)
• 4 Strategies to Help ELLs in the Mainstream Classroom : Take a look at ELL strategies that work for all students, like reading a book every day, planning multi-modal lessons, shortening lessons, and encouraging writing. (Edutopia, 2015)
• Engaging Parents of English-Language Learners : See how a kindergarten teacher builds community by inviting parents into his classroom. (Edutopia, 2015)

Boosting Student Engagement

• Getting Started With Game-Based Language Learning : Introduce English-language learners to game-based learning to better develop comprehension and communication skills. (Edutopia, 2015)
• Supporting ELLs in PBL Projects : Find out how project-based learning can help teach academic vocabulary, encourage collaboration, scaffold structure and function, allow for assessment and differentiation, and leverage students’ native languages. (Edutopia, 2015)
• How Storytelling Inspires Children to Learn English : Use the power of storytelling to engage English-language learners and help them with their language acquisition. (Edutopia, 2014)
• Using Photos With English-Language Learners : Use activities that incorporate photos to help students integrate and evaluate information in media, develop topics, and use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary. (Edutopia, 2012)
• Using Blogs to Engage English-Language Learners : Read about the benefits of blogging for engaging students. (Edutopia, 2011)

Language and Literacy Instruction

• Common Core Writing and ELLs : Learn about what it means to apply three key elements of the CCSS writing standards—argument, informative/explanatory, and narrative—when teaching English-language learners. (Edutopia, 2016)
• Collaborative Writing, Common Core, and ELLs : Get students to work collaboratively on narratives developing experiences, events, or characters. (Edutopia, 2016)
• Peer Review, Common Core, and ELLs : Use simple peer review activities that are kind, specific, and helpful to assist students in improving their writing and learning about writing. (Edutopia, 2016)
• Teaching Syllables Can Mask Meaningful Morphemes : Help beginning readers grasp the difference between written and spoken language by starting with the meaning of the words rather than their syllabic breakdown. (Edutopia, 2015)
• English-Language Learners and Academic Language : Learn about academic language proficiency, and find some activities that can help teach academic language. (Edutopia, 2014)
• 8 Strategies for Teaching Academic Language : Understand how academic language differs from social language, and discover eight specific strategies for teaching the vocabulary that students require to succeed in the Common Core and on the SAT. (Edutopia, 2014)

Learning English Through the Arts

• The After-School Shakespeare Club : Learn how upper elementary English-language learners created a triumphant reimagining of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. (Edutopia, 2016)
• Makerspaces and Equal Access to Learning : Find out how makerspaces can democratize learning, create a culture of participation, allow for teaching with visual cues, offer thematic planning opportunities, and facilitate differentiated instruction. (Edutopia, 2016)
• Literacy Through Photography for English-Language Learners : Engage ELLs with creating, identifying, and narrating through photographs. Help them learn a language by challenging their thinking in other media. (Edutopia, 2015)
• The Power of Poetry in Primary Classrooms : Use poetry as an effective tool for broadening elementary students' reading choices, strengthening sentence-level skills, teaching ELLs about English, and reinforcing learning across many subjects. (Edutopia, 2015)

Using Technology With ELLs

• 5-Minute Film Festival: 7 Videos for ELL Classrooms : Check out a few of teacher Larry Ferlazzo’s favorite videos. (Edutopia, 2015)
• Blogging for English-Language Learners : Learn about the benefits of student blogging, and find some tips for getting started. (Edutopia, 2015)
• PBL Science Empowered by Discussion Forums : Find better ways to teach science to ELLs through the COPPELLS model of PBL, which provides online and asynchronous forums for reviewing and discussing course material. (Edutopia, 2015)
• Support English-Language Learners With Scannable Technology : Use QR codes and AR triggers to give students a quick, fun way to supplement language acquisition with audio and visual prompts. (Edutopia, 2014)

Jump to navigation

Resources and Programs

• Teaching the Four Skills
• U.S. Culture, Music & Games
• Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
• Other Resources
• English Club Texts and Materials
• Teacher's Corner
• Comics for Language Learning
• Online Professional English Network (OPEN)

The Online Professional English Network (OPEN) Program has many Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for English language teachers, students, and other professionals.

Check out all of our currently open courses HERE

American English MOOC Playlist

These free MOOCs are hosted on the Canvas Network platform and have included titles such as these:

• English for Media Literacy
• English for Business and Entrepreneurship
• Professional Development for Teacher Trainers
• TESOL Methodology
• Teaching English to Young Learners
• Integrating Critical Thinking into the Integration of Culture in an EFL Setting

Participants who complete these MOOCs with a 70% passing rate or higher are eligible to receive a digital badge and e-certificate from the U.S. Department of State.

If you are a MOOC Camp Teacher, Facilitator or conduct virtual MOOC watch parties use these MOOC Materials and Resources.

• Teacher's Guide for Creating Lessons with MOOCs (PDF)
• Teacher's Guide for Creating Lessons with MOOCs (Word)
• MOOC Camp Facilitator Guide (PDF)
• MOOC Camp Facilitator Guide (Word)
• Virtual Watch Parties (PDF)
• Virtual Watch Parties (Word)
• Privacy Notice
• Copyright Info
• Accessibility Statement
• Get Adobe Reader

For English Language Teachers Around the World

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, manages this site. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

• International
• Education Jobs
• Schools directory
• Resources Education Jobs Schools directory News Search

English Language GCSE Section B: Non-Fiction Writing

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Unit of work

Last updated

25 June 2024

• Share through email
• Share through twitter
• Share through linkedin
• Share through facebook
• Share through pinterest

A series of 12 lessons covering writing a Speech, Formal Letter, Article and Guide. Each series of lessons has a number of stimulus resources and student exemplars for students to read and annotate.

Tes paid licence How can I reuse this?

Your rating is required to reflect your happiness.

It's good to leave some feedback.

Something went wrong, please try again later.

This resource hasn't been reviewed yet

To ensure quality for our reviews, only customers who have purchased this resource can review it

Report this resource to let us know if it violates our terms and conditions. Our customer service team will review your report and will be in touch.

Not quite what you were looking for? Search by keyword to find the right resource:

The How and Why of Writing Functions

Increase code modularity and flexibility by writing custom functions. Debug functions, set the MATLAB path, and understand function precedence to resolve ambiguity in command and function names.

Course modules

• Course Overview

Get an overview of the course and the course example.

• Learning Outcomes and Prerequisites

Create Functions

Create a local function from code you want to repeat.

• Why Write Functions?
• Convert Script Code to a Function
• Complications of Repeated Code in Scripts
• Modify Function Inputs and Outputs

Function Files

Write function files for use outside of your script.

• Local Functions vs. Function Files
• Write a Function in a Function File

Functions with Multiple Outputs

Create and call functions with multiple outputs.

• Write a Function with Multiple Outputs

Examine base and function workspaces and learn how MATLAB keeps them separate.

• Introduction to Workspaces
• Function Workspaces
• View Base and Function Workspaces
• Access the Function Workspace to Troubleshoot a Function
• Debug a Function
• MATLAB Path and Calling Precedence

Learn how MATLAB handles name conflicts and finds user-defined functions.

• Add Folders to the MATLAB Path
• Calling Precedence
• MATLAB Calling Precedence

Practice what you have learned in the course.

• Course Recap
• Pyramid Numbers

Learn next steps and give feedback on the course.

• Additional Resources

Format:Self-paced

Language:English

Language Hands-on exercises with automated feedback Access to MATLAB through your web browser Shareable progress report and course certificate MATLAB Desktop Tools and Troubleshooting Scripts

Get acquainted with MATLAB tools to help you work more efficiently in the environment.

Help | Advanced Search

Computer Science > Computation and Language

Title: ssp: self-supervised prompting for cross-lingual transfer to low-resource languages using large language models.

Abstract: Recently, very large language models (LLMs) have shown exceptional performance on several English NLP tasks with just in-context learning (ICL), but their utility in other languages is still underexplored. We investigate their effectiveness for NLP tasks in low-resource languages (LRLs), especially in the setting of zero-labelled cross-lingual transfer (0-CLT), where no labelled training data for the target language is available -- however training data from one or more related medium-resource languages (MRLs) is utilized, alongside the available unlabeled test data for a target language. We introduce Self-Supervised Prompting (SSP), a novel ICL approach tailored for the 0-CLT setting. SSP is based on the key observation that LLMs output more accurate labels if in-context exemplars are from the target language (even if their labels are slightly noisy). To operationalize this, since target language training data is not available in 0-CLT, SSP operates in two stages. In Stage I, using source MRL training data, target language's test data is noisily labeled. In Stage II, these noisy test data points are used as exemplars in ICL for further improved labelling. Additionally, our implementation of SSP uses a novel Integer Linear Programming (ILP)-based exemplar selection that balances similarity, prediction confidence (when available) and label coverage. Experiments on three tasks and eleven LRLs (from three regions) demonstrate that SSP strongly outperforms existing SOTA fine-tuned and prompting-based baselines in 0-CLT setup.

Submission history

Access paper:.

• HTML (experimental)
• Other Formats

References & Citations

• Google Scholar
• Semantic Scholar

BibTeX formatted citation

Bibliographic and Citation Tools

Code, data and media associated with this article, recommenders and search tools.

• Institution

arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs .