When is an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) student ready to begin reading?
The answer to this question depends on two factors: (1) The AGE of the student and (2) whether the student is already literate in (h)is/er own language. • The AGE of the student is a very important factor in learning to read in the primary or the second language. A young student, pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, first or second grade ESOL student, is ready to begin reading in English the moment the student has learned to understand and speak any English words or expression. For example, in my own classroom I always greeted students at the door, saying “Good morning!” We would practice saying our greetings with other students present or arriving at my first-second grade combination class. The moment a student who was learning English, an English Language Learner, ELL, would come in and greet me giving me evidence (s)he understood the function of the greeting I would flash at the student a sentence strip that read “Good morning!” and from then on, I would always greet and flash to the stu
