Who Decked the Halls

A comprehensive workshop-style unit for 6th Grade ESL students focused on the linguistic mechanics of paraphrasing and synthesizing information. Students move from identifying core concepts to orally retelling information, transforming individual sentences, and finally weaving multiple sources into a single coherent paragraph without plagiarizing.

Students engage in a 'shadowing' technique, repeating audio immediately after hearing it to internalize the rhythm and flow of connected speech. This active processing reinforces their ability to predict and process sound streams.

Final assessment for the Search Strategy Academy unit, covering keywords, Boolean operators, database use, and snippet analysis.

A 5-lesson unit for 6th-grade ESL students focused on transforming search habits from natural language questions to strategic keyword and Boolean operator techniques. Students move from basic vocabulary brainstorming to navigating academic databases and skimming snippets for relevance.

Focusing on function words, this lesson tackles common reductions like 'gonna,' 'wanna,' and weak forms of auxiliary verbs. Students analyze unscripted interviews to catch these reductions in context.

Answer key for the Lesson 4 worksheet on grammatical reductions.

A comprehensive 5-lesson sequence designed for 7th-grade ESL students to master the art of synthesizing information. Students progress from organizing raw research notes to writing sophisticated, cohesive academic paragraphs using evidence from multiple sources.

Students learn how sounds influence their neighbors (e.g., 'hand bag' becoming 'hambag'). The lesson uses minimal pair discrimination and dictation exercises to train ears to recognize words despite phonological changes.

Teacher guide for "The Source Weaver" lesson. It outlines the synthesis process, provides a hook activity, transition words for ESL support, and a sample synthesized paragraph.

A comprehensive 7th-grade ESL sequence focusing on the ethics of academic integrity, the mechanics of paraphrasing and summarizing, and the technical accuracy of MLA citations. Students transition from understanding intellectual property to performing independent 'plagiarism audits' on research samples.

The capstone activity where students combine information from two different sources into a single, logically organized paragraph.

Answer key for the Lesson 3 worksheet on assimilation.