In the vignette above, Mr. Jensen selected a text connected to children’ s everyday experiences and ongoing project work. Familiar topics and experiences help multilingual learners focus less on interpreting unfamiliar ideas and more on engaging with new language and skills( Hadaway 2009). Repetitive texts, predictable structures, and engaging illustrations can also promote language and literacy acquisition by providing repeated opportunities to hear and use important vocabulary and language structures.
Educators can also think beyond the text itself. Mr. Jensen invited family members to record themselves, so children could revisit the story in their home languages. This expands the materials available to children: The wider range bolsters comprehension, validates home language use, and reinforces the idea that multilingualism is an asset( Budde et al. 2026). animals and people move different parts of their bodies. Although the word move does not appear directly in the text, Mr. Jensen knows he will frequently use it during discussions and activities. He decides to introduce this word before reading by creating a card that contains the word and an image related to the word’ s meaning( see“ Vocabulary Card Sample” below).
Vocabulary Card Sample
Move
Become a Language Detective
As Mr. Jensen plans the upcoming read aloud, he considers what he knows about each child’ s current language development. Children in his classroom speak Spanish, French, Vietnamese, and English. Most of his multilingual learners are in the beginning stages of English language development and primarily use gestures, pointing, their home languages, and short phrases to communicate ideas and participate in classroom activities. Two children are at an intermediate stage and can follow simple directions in English, express ideas using a growing vocabulary, and participate in longer conversations.
He identifies the key ideas and vocabulary in From Head to Toe that children will need to understand to engage in the read aloud. These include move, body, and parts to discuss how
To effectively guide multilingual learners, Mr. Jensen became a language detective. He carefully considered the language demands of the read aloud and compared them to children’ s current skills. Then, he selected a few vocabulary words that the multilingual learners in his class would not only hear during the read aloud but would encounter throughout the unit of study. The word move, for example, did not appear directly in the text but would still be essential for understanding and discussion.
As language detectives, educators can consider questions such as
› What can children currently understand in English through listening?
› Can they follow simple questions and directions in English?
› What vocabulary or concepts are already familiar in English or their home languages?
› How do children currently communicate their ideas?
80 Young Children
Fall 2026