NoRedInk is a powerful tool to help your English Learners master English grammar and become more confident writers! Teachers have found the following strategies useful for getting the most out of the program and meeting their learners' needs.
Use diagnostics to identify learners' needs
NoRedInk offers simple ways to provide your English Learners (ELs) with targeted practice on essential language skills. We recommend the following strategy to help you identify student needs:
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Start by assigning a Planning Diagnostic to determine which skills your students need to practice. Planning Diagnostics help you gather data on student performance across various topics.
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You can choose from our pre-made diagnostics in the Planning Diagnostic library.
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The Grade 5 Diagnostics are particularly effective starting points for ELs!
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You can also create custom diagnostics tailored to your specific classroom needs
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💡 You can use the grade level filter in the drop-down menu to select topics appropriate for your students' proficiency levels.
After identifying your students' areas of improvement, you can plan which Units to teach throughout the year. You can learn about planning and creating a Unit here!
Start with the basics
All NoRedInk Pathways list their component topics in a meaningful scope and sequence:
- Topics in Part 1 cover fundamental concepts.
- Later parts build upon these foundations.
- Ensure your ELs master Part 1 material before advancing to more complex topics.
To locate topics that are most accessible for English Learners, you can follow these steps:
- Access your Assignment Library by selecting Browse and Assign at the top of your dashboard.
- Select the Standards & Tests section.
- You can then explore topics by recommended grade level
- We recommend focusing on the 3-5 grade topics like "Adjectives" as the questions tend to have simpler sentence structures and vocabulary!
💡 If you select a specific activity in the Assignment Library, such as Practice, Quiz, or a Diagnostic, you will also have the option to filter topics to assign by recommended grade level!
If you select a specific activity in the Assignment Library, such as Practice, Quiz, or a Diagnostic, you will also have the option to filter topics to assign by recommended grade level!
Here are some Pathways that may be especially helpful for English learners:
- Adjectives
- Articles
- Commonly Confused Words I
- Contractions
- Plural vs. Possessive Nouns
- Singular vs. Plural Possessives
- Verb Tense I: Simple Tenses
Pre-teach and re-teach concepts
NoRedInk is most effective when paired with teacher-led instruction:
- Pre-teach concepts: Before students begin working on NoRedInk, provide direct instruction on the relevant language points.
- Review key rules: Even if students are familiar with the concepts, a quick review will reinforce understanding.
- Assess prerequisite knowledge: Consider whether students need to understand specific grammatical terms or concepts before starting a Pathway (e.g., students should know what nouns are before working on adjectives).
- Examine lessons: Review NoRedInk's built-in lessons to identify vocabulary or concepts you may need to pre-teach.
Help students consolidate their knowledge by revisiting topics they practiced earlier in the course. Even if students have already mastered a topic, you can assign a Refresher Quiz to give them some extra practice and make sure they're still confident with the material!
Model answering questions for the class
Before students start their individual Practice, we recommend going through a few questions as a whole class to make sure students understand both the instructions and the question interface! This will help students feel more confident using the site and stop them from getting stuck because they don't know how to answer the questions. You can select the eye icon to preview the topic.
You can learn more about pre-teaching and showing students lessons in this article!
Look for topics with tutorials
In addition to lessons, some NoRedInk topics have interactive tutorials. These tutorials break concepts down into smaller steps and also include one or two practice questions to help students check their understanding before they start practicing. For these reasons, tutorials are a great tool for ELs. If you see a footsteps icon next to a topic, there is an interactive tutorial included!
When you assign Practice on a topic with an interactive tutorial, students will automatically see this tutorial before they begin practicing. If students want to view the tutorial again while they're practicing, they can select the question mark icon next to the directions.
💡 Want to see a full list of NoRedInk topics that have interactice tutorials? Check out this article!
Make the lessons for the topic accessible to students
To give your English Learners some extra support, let them refer to the lessons while they're practicing. You could project the lessons on your board, print them out for students, or even get students to take pictures of them on their phones!
Students can also access lessons by clicking "Learn" at the top of the page. More information on how students can practice independently is available here: How do I practice topics on my own?
Assign short assignments
Try not to assign too many different topics at once; an assignment with a large number of topics can easily become overwhelming! Instead, let your English Learners focus on mastering just one or two topics at a time.
If you teach an inclusion class or mixed-ability ELs, you can differentiate assignments to ensure that all students are working on the material that will help them most. For more information on how to create work for individual students or the whole class, check out this article!
Set time limits for Practice
Because NoRedInk Practice requires students to keep going until they answer enough questions correctly, some students may spend longer on a topic than others.
If you're worried about students spending too long on Practice, give them a time limit.
- Tell them to practice for a certain number of minutes and then stop.
- They can always come back later and start from where they left off; their progress will be saved automatically!
Try using NoRedInk as part of your classroom routine. 10-15 minutes of focused practice a few times a week can go a long way!
Encourage peer teaching
Let your students work together on NoRedInk so they can learn from each other!
- If you teach an inclusion class, proficient English speakers can help students whose level of English is lower.
- Your more advanced students can reinforce their knowledge by explaining concepts to their peers, and your ELs will get the extra support they need.
You can also encourage English Learners to help each other! Once ELs have mastered a topic, they can share the strategies that worked for them. You can explore some of our strategies for using NoRedInk in the classroom here!