Read this blog post, Sending Pictures Home,  to discover a quick and easy way to involve parents and families in their child's learning with the use of images. 

According to Valentina Gonzalea , "Pictures offer families an easy entry point into academic conversations and help lay the groundwork for the learning ahead. When families use primary languages to discuss the pictures, multilingual learners’ second language acquisition is also supported. This culturally inclusive method of family engagement positions family members as experts and partners in learning. Family members are able to share what they can, and in the language they are most proficient in."  

More Cinderella Lessons:

Check out these links for additional lessons in the Cinderella unit. Videos and complete lesson plans are included.

• Complete Cinderella Unit lesson plans. Five lessons in all. 

• Focusing on language with the Common Core

• Higher-level questions: Thinking about magic

• Identifying evidence from the text

• Learning about genre

• Making text-to-text connections

Using the VTS (Visual Tinking Strategies) method of instruction is an effective tool to use with students who need support building background knowledge and vocabulary before reading and writing. Contact Camie Went if you would like to co-plan and co-teach a VTS lesson in your class.

VTS Questions: 

• What going on in this picture?

• What do you see that makes you say that?

• What more can you find? 

Resources:

• Colorin Colorado: Visual Thinking Strategies for Improved Comprehension  provides step by step instructions for the method.

• New York Times: Picture Prompts provides a new image each week related to current events to use with your class. Pictures enlarge and fill the screen with one click.

• Pics4Learning: Pics4Learning is a curated image library that is safe and free for education. Teachers and students can use the copyright-friendly photos and illustrations for classroom projects, web sites, videos, portfolios, or any other projects in an educational setting.

• National Geographic: Gallery of photos provides pictures covering a variety of topics.

• Famous Paintings: Art appreciation images organized by artist

How do we support our EL students in becoming confident readers. Here is a two page resource for your consideration when teaching reading to ELL students. 

GLAD strategies can be used in any content area. They are good for all learners because they increase the level of comprehensible input while maintaining the academic rigor of the content. These highly engaging and equitable protocols are well worth investigating and incorporating into your instructional routines.