Mike’s Blog
Strategies, Ideas and Insights for Teachers and Leaders
Tag: using visuals with eal learners
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Harness the power of the visual to support your EAL learners in a way that transcends the very nature of the spoken word
Many years ago, I was first introduced to the paintings of JMW Turner. At that time, I knew little about the background to his works or the historical context in…
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Skip past the challenges of decoding a new language and give your EAL learners instant clues they can use to make sense of new words and phrases
‘Pictures for Meaning’ EAL Strategy: Explanation and Rationale If you’re familiar with the content of an image, you can decode it. You can start make sense of what it means,…
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Use this simple visual hack to make every task you plan that little bit easier for your EAL learners to understand, make sense of, and take part in
‘Pictures for Tasks’ EAL Strategy: Explanation and Rationale Throughout a lesson, learners are asked to engage in a variety of tasks. These may involve quite different behaviours, interactions, and outcomes.…
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Turn your class rules into instantly accessible visual cues your EAL learners can make sense of on their own
‘Pictures for Class Rules’ EAL Strategy: Explanation and Rationale Most social situations have rules of some sort, even if these are not explicitly stated. For example, in the United Kingdom…
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Completely change how you ask your EAL learners to communicate with you by calling on the mighty power of the pencil
‘Draw Your Answer’ EAL Strategy: Explanation and Rationale Images transcend language. Two individuals who cannot communicate by speaking or writing can nonetheless use images to convey meaning to each another.…
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An incredibly simple, unbelievably easy way you can help your EAL learners feel more at home, more at ease, and more connected to your classroom, your lessons and your teaching
‘Culturally Relevant Images’ EAL Strategy: Explanation and Rationale Language is dependent on context. This relationship can take many forms. For example: Another key aspect in the contextualisation of language is…
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Call on the visual immediacy of the humble highlighter to help your EAL learners read with greater confidence and skill
‘Pre-Highlight’ EAL Strategy: Explanation and Rationale When faced with an unfamiliar text, there are various strategies we can use. We might decide to read everything through and then begin again,…