Looking for the ideal resource to help your English-language learners (ELLs) learn to read? Look no further! Our CCVC Words reading videos are designed specifically with ELL students in mind. Each video allows learners to listen to the words being read, repeat the words and practice reading them independently. Not only does this approach help students with pronunciation, but it also allows them to broaden their vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension skills. Below is an overview of the progression our fun and engaging learning videos follow along with samples for you to try with your ELL students today!

​The first set of learning videos focuses on beginning sounds in CCVC words, such as bl, ch, st, etc. English-language learners have the opportunity to listen to words read as a whole, broken down into parts (beginning and end sounds); then they are asked to repeat what they hear, and finally they are invited to try reading the words themselves. 

​These videos present CCVC words by word family endings and focus on word recognition, phonemic awareness and pronunciation. In keeping with the learning pattern set out in the initial sounds videos, English-language learners again have the opportunity to listen, repeat and practice reading words independently. 

​This set reviews CCVC words already seen and invites ELL students to practice reading the words in different tones of voices, ranging from quiet to loud – a great way for your students to build confidence in speaking English!

​An important part of learning to read in English is the ability to comprehend text. These videos put the CCVC words ELL students have learned into themed contexts and allows them to imagine how they may be used orally, thereby enhancing their language and comprehension skills. The words are first presented individually and then in the context of a sentence. 

In this final set of reading videos, English-language learners are introduced to two words at a time – either CVC, CCVC, or a combination of both, the focus being on word recognition, vocabulary building and comprehension skills.

The CCVC Words videos are now available for both classroom and at-home use. Explore our purchasing options to learn more and stay tuned for upcoming sets of videos that will accompany our Emergent and Transitional Readers eBooks. 

​At Education by Shala Books, we are always looking for ways to enhance our existing resources, so when Timmy Riday, an English teacher, and Qingdao LEKU Education & Culture Entertainment Co. Ltd., proposed the creation of learning videos to accompany our existing Emergent and Transitional Readers eBooks, it was an idea we immediately jumped as we could see their value for learners. Do you have an idea that you feel would be of benefit?  If so, feel free to contact us to discuss selling opportunities on our website!
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The other day I overheard a teacher say something along the lines that teachers shouldn’t worry about not covering all the objectives set out in the curriculum as she had been told by a superior that there were simply too many to cover in a year and not to worry about it; they would get touched upon another year. This completely blew my mind. My first instinct was to empathize with the teacher; I get the relief of being told not to worry if you run out of time, you did your best, all will work itself out in the end. But then I started playing this out in my head – if every single educator was doing the same thing, cutting parts of the curriculum out and crossing their fingers that it would get covered another year … well, things could go very wrong.

Firstly, if we are going to give teachers a free pass, there should be some sort of assurance that the missing objectives will be covered another year. At my daughter’s school district, I am almost certain this isn’t the case, so it could very well be that as she moves through her learning journey, there will be concepts that are missed simply because there doesn’t appear to be much accountability. At this point in time, there really isn’t any way to ensure that concepts missed one year are taught the next because there isn’t a formal handover where one teacher lets the next year’s teacher know what they weren’t able to cover, and there’s no tracking system in place.
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The second issue is that there is no way to ensure that two classes of the same grade are covering the same concepts. And so, if one class moves faster and is able to cover more objectives and/or the two teachers choose different areas of the curriculum to skip over, then when the students are regrouped the following year, you end up with a mix of students in the next grade level classes with differing gaps. This makes it difficult for the new teachers to figure out a game plan to make sure that not only do they hit their grade level objectives, but also account for and fill in learning gaps that may exist. 

If we follow this train of thought and imagine year upon year of missed objectives, not knowing what hasn’t been covered when, and assuming that teachers are choosing different areas of the curriculum to omit, (when that might not be the case and the same areas are being chosen) then what does this mean for students? It means that while the majority of the curriculum content will be covered, gaps will exist that may not necessarily be filled and their impact will be difficult to gauge.
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The solution? I believe there are two choices: if the curriculum is in fact overloaded and deemed impossible to complete in a year, perhaps the B.C. government should consider paring it down to the essentials to make sure students are on an even footing, and the second choice would be to improve teacher accountability. If the government does feel that what it has set out is reasonable, then there needs to be some form of tracking in place to make sure it all gets covered at some point during each student’s learning journey.
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As a teacher, what are your thoughts on the topic? What gaps, if any, have you witnessed due to the curriculums not being fully covered in a year? We’d love to hear your thoughts!