Teachers who work with English as a Second Language learners will find ESL/ESOL/ELL/EFL reading/writing skill-building children's books, stories, activities, ideas, strategies to help PreK-3, 4-8, and 9-12 students learn to read.

A bilingual site for families and educators of English language learners

Back-to-School Resources for English Language Learners

Back-to-School Resources for English Language Learners

Welcome to Colorín Colorado, the leading website for teachers and parents of English Language Learners! Here you'll find lots of articles, resources, and ideas to support ELLs at school and at home.


Back-to-School Resources for ELLs

Our back-to-school section for educators offer lots of great ideas for getting the school year off to a good start, and don't miss our updated back-to-school section for parents with numerous bilingual articles and resources.

New! Academic Language Webcast

Colorín Colorado webcast: Academic language instruction for English language learners

This new Colorín Colorado webcast features Dr. Robin Scarcella and provides an overview to academic language instruction for English language learners, as well as teaching strategies, activity ideas, and recommended resources.



New! Reading Tips for ELL Teachers (Grades 4-12)

Reading Tip Sheets for Teachers

Colorín Colorado and the American Federation of Teachers have collaborated to develop new bilingual tip sheets focused on reading instruction for teachers of older English language learners. These tip sheets include information on vocabulary instruction and age-appropriate reading strategies.

This month's features

Colorín Colorado Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month!

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!

Hispanic Heritage Month is a wonderful time to share rich cultural experiences with your students and learn about their diverse backgrounds. Colorín Colorado has compiled a wide array of Hispanic Heritage resources for the classroom, including bilingual booklists and multimedia lesson plans. You may also enjoy watching interviews with some of our favorite children's book authors in our Meet the Author section.

Reading Rockets' Newest Show: Toddling Toward Reading

Reba McEntire

Hosted by Reba McEntire, "Toddling Toward Reading" looks at what it takes to give our preschoolers the early literacy skills they need to become successful readers. This is the 10th episode in the Reading Rockets' Launching Young Readers series and is now airing on PBS, so check your local listings!

Creating a 'Welcome Kit' for New ELLs

It is important for school administrators and staff help new ELL students make a smooth transition into school and ease their anxiety, especially if they enroll throughout the school year. One way to help these students feel welcome and get them prepared for success in school is to present them with a "Welcome Kit." This month's Bright Ideas article offers ideas for what kinds of materials and supplies to include in an ELL Welcome Kit.

Highlights

Book of the Month

Quinito, Day and Night/Quinito, Día y Noche
By Ina Cumpiano
Illustrated by José Ramírez

Quinito, Day and Night/Quinito, Día y Noche

Ina Cumpiano and José Ramírez have teamed up once again to bring young readers an engaging story about Quinito, his family, and his daily activities. The bilingual story shows how opposites play an important part of Quinito's life through charming text and vibrant illustrations. Ideal for young children learning new English and Spanish vocabulary.

Special Feature for September
Back-to-School Stories

Moony Luna

The backpack is packed, and it's time for all of the changes a new school year brings! Go back to school with these children's books from Reading Rockets' School Days booklist, which includes stories, poems, rhymes, and bilingual titles.

Be sure to also take a look at these great reading activities accompanying Moony Luna, a bilingual back-to-school story by Jorge Argueta!

Don't miss

Social Networking with Colorín Colorado

Colorin Colorado on Facebook

Colorín Colorado now has a fan page on Facebook. Check us out and become a fan today!

We are also on Twitter, so sign up to follow our twitters and be the first to now what's new and exciting on Colorín Colorado.

CREATE Conference 2008

CREATE Conference

The Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners (CREATE) invites all educators, administrators, and publishers to participate in its upcoming conference!

The language processes required to comprehend mathematics, science experiments, and explanations of historical events are challenging, even for students who speak English as their first language. For English language learners, these demands can be particularly high. What techniques does recent research identify as effective for English language learners in specific content areas? Join us as leading researchers present findings on the features of instruction that support English language learners in science, social studies, and mathematics.

For more information, please visit the conference website.