Four Ways to Support Your ELLs with Reading Eggs

Meeting the diverse needs of English language learners when it comes to reading and literacy can be a challenge for educators. For any student, but especially for ELLs, cracking the code on reading can be the key to opening the door to all the academic gains that come with being a proficient reader. Edmentum believes in providing ELLs with a high-quality curriculum to develop the reading skills they need to be successful. Following a rigorous independent review process, we are proud to announce that Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress, Edmentum’s two-in-one literacy solution, has been awarded WIDA PRIME V2 Correlations, indicating the program's ability to meet ELLs listening, speaking, reading, and writing needs. Today, we’ll take a peek at four ways that Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress support your ELLs’ literacy development.

Four Ways Reading Eggs Can Help Support Your ELLs

1. All students start off on the right path with a placement test

Just like any other emerging readers, not all ELLs will be at the same level when instruction begins. Some of your students may already know how to read in their native language, some may already be familiar with the letters and sounds of the English alphabet, and some may be absolute beginners.

A placement test helps ensure that ELLs begin their Reading Eggs or Reading Eggspress journey at the correct level of instruction. Students are presented with a series of questions that incrementally get harder as the test continues. Each set of five questions is aligned to the skills covered in each successive map of the program. When a student misses three questions, the test will end, and students will be placed on the correct map to begin working.

If, at any time, educators feel a student is working at the wrong level, they can override the current lesson or reset the placement test to give a student a completely fresh start. Instructors can also bypass the test altogether for ELL newcomers. The program will then begin at an absolute emergent level, introducing initial letters and sounds.

2. Listening and speaking practice builds phonemic awareness and confidence

Developing phonemic awareness is the first step to building spelling and word recognition skills that will ultimately evolve into strong reading skills. For ELLs, cultivating phonemic awareness can be particularly challenging, as students may have difficulty hearing and producing new sounds in a new language.

Reading Eggs helps support the development of phonemic awareness and phonics skills in 120 leveled Stepping Stone Lessons, and it continuously provides students with opportunities to practice speaking and listening skills, as well as offers audio support throughout the program. 

Reading Eggs challenges students to sharpen their speaking skills in the lessons by reading aloud, practicing pronunciation, matching sounds to letters, and repeating words. The ongoing repetition and careful scaffolding help students build confidence when it comes to reading or speaking aloud in English. Speaking skills are also addressed from the instructor’s side of the program, with optional lessons that can be used to supplement classroom instruction from the Teacher Resources page.

Students are given many opportunities to listen to fluent reading in English throughout Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress. In all activities, instructions are read aloud to students. There are also audio support capabilities available for readings throughout lessons, and many of the books included in the online Library offer a “Read to Me” feature.

3. Rewarding and game-like features keep students motivated

It’s important to keep students engaged and encouraged when learning to read. Engagement not only helps students retain information better, but it also helps them build grit and stamina and inspires them to keep trying if they don’t succeed the first time around.

In addition to playful graphics and animations, Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress are designed to engage and actively reward students, turning learning to read into a fun and interactive experience. Students earn Golden Eggs each time they complete a task, which they can then spend on customizing their very own avatar and character living space. Students can also collect virtual critters and trading cards, unlock games, and earn weekly prizes throughout the different levels of Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress.

Students can also earn printable certificates after they complete reading lessons. Certificates are a great way for ELLs to see how much progress they are making on their reading journey and are perfect for printing out to display at home or around the classroom or to present during class celebrations or school assemblies.

These engaging features not only encourage students to advance within the program in order to earn more rewards but also praise students for completing lessons and tasks correctly to reinforce learning.

4. A rich library of e-books expands knowledge and reading skills

The Reading Eggs Library includes an extensive collection of over 2,000 fiction and nonfiction e-books. Students can select stories according to Lexile® level or reading age, use the “Read to Me” feature to have a book read aloud, explore different genres, write their own book reviews, and earn Golden Eggs for completing reading quizzes.

The Library’s primary function is to help students improve their reading skills; students can self-select books, and they are regularly checked for understanding while they read. Additionally, the Library serves another purpose for ELLs by providing them with opportunities for learning social and academic language. Reading comprehension is the main goal of the Reading Eggs program, but the reading content connects to science, social studies, and math topics as well.

For example, if students select a book about the water cycle from the Library, they are not only practicing their literacy skills as they read but also building their science vocabulary and their knowledge of water cycles. Likewise, if students read a story about a family throwing a Fourth of July picnic, they are building their cultural knowledge of American customs and social vocabulary as well as reading comprehension. That’s a win-win scenario.

Reading Eggs for English Language Learners: Final Thoughts

Starting students off on the right foot, helping them build confidence through listening and speaking practice, keeping them interested and motivated, and putting the knowledge of over 2,000 books at their fingertips are just a few of the ways Reading Eggs helps your ELLs not only become better readers but also develop a lifelong love of reading.

Interested in seeing how Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress can make a difference in your classroom? Sign up for a free trial today!