Oral Language Instructional Strategies

• One great method for helping students with oral language is through read-alouds. Read-alouds expose children to new words and complex sentence structures. When reading aloud, teachers can build background knowledge. Background knowledge helps students to understand what is being read or heard. For example, a student may never have heard the word doorknob before, but during a read aloud, the teacher mentions the word and reminds students that it is the same thing as a door handle. The student has just increased their vocabulary by listening to their teacher.
• Use sentence starters. If a student is having a tough time trying to think of something to say, give them a sentence starter (today I learned...). Then give them think time. As a teacher you are modeling how to answer an oral question, and giving the student words to start.

References

• Bear, D. R., Invernizzi, M., Johnston, F. R., & Templeton, S. (2020). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction (7th ed.). Harlow, United Kingdom.
  
• 14 ways to improve your students' oral language skills. Brookes Blog. (2022, April 5). Retrieved July 30, 2022, from https://blog.brookespublishing.com/11-ways-to-improve-your-students-oral-language-skills