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From http://www.janaechevarria.com

Jana Echevarria writes, "English learners, those students who are still in the process of becoming fluent English speakers, have a lot of English vocabulary to learn. Beyond the words they need to know and use to communicate clearly with others and express their knowledge, ask questions, and convey ideas, they also have to acquire the academic language used in school subject areas, including a level of English that will prepare them to graduate and for college and careers.

"That’s a lot of words. One way to accelerate their English proficiency is to instill in English learners the idea that learning about words can be fun. Teaching about words and word parts expands students’ vocabularies exponentially. Of course, there are key vocabulary terms that need to be taught and practiced so that specific lessons are understandable, but there is tremendous benefit to spending time letting students play with words.

"English learners have the asset of their home language (L1). They already know a lot of words and the concepts those words represent. Tap into those words and use them to teach English vocabulary, and even expand their L1 vocabulary."

Read the full blog post to learn several different strategies for word exploration: http://www.janaechevarria.com/?p=1252