Both of these strategies come from WestEd's QTEL (Quality Teaching for English Learners) resources. They work together very well and have been an excellent tool for helping students navigate a challenging text. In the Reading with a Focus activity, students read a selected passage and note information that connects with the "focus" that the teacher has given him or her. The rationale behind this strategy is that students decode the text as they search for information rather than attempt to translate every single word. It allows students to work through the text together and discuss relevant citations. Additionally, it allows the teacher to help the student collect targeted information which could be used in a follow-up writing assignment.

The Dual Entry Journal allows the students to record their citations or findings and then process them at a later time. I highly recommend this tool for helping students collect information from a text in order to write a CERERC paragraph (Claim-Evidence-Reasoning-Evidence-Reasoning-Conclusion). In fact, I paste a small version of the Dual Entry Journal in a pre-writing space at the beginning of each composition students work on. I ask them to paste their information into this copy and work on developing reasoning BEFORE they begin writing. This gives them an opportunity to brainstorm and organize their information before writing. It also allows me to assess students reasoning ability and citation relevance at a glance so that I can provide feedback before students begin to compose their drafts.

https://www.wested.org/

I highly recommend EdPuzzle as an educational tool. This platform allows you to "harness" videos from Youtube and insert questions and notes. You can adjust settings so that students have to respond to your question. It's a great way to give a quick listening assessment as well as introduce new topics. I used it with success for one of my students who was often distracted. After the video, he had several follow up questions. I'd never seen him so focused! Another great feature is that you can add it to Google Classroom, so scores are sent to you automatically.

Listenwise is a site that has a large collection of NPR podcast episodes. They are separated by topic (Social Sciences, Literature, etc.) but you can also search for episodes that might interest your students. I have found this to be a great resource for changing up our "text" medium. I used this to help students develop research projects, help them analyze the structure of a text, and note verbal cues the signal transitions in the "text."

www.Listenwise.com