Dear Families,

We are excited to begin a new learning module in our Elementary English Language Development (ELD) classes! During this module, students will explore how to agree and disagree respectfully while sharing their ideas, listening to others, reading, and writing.

Our lessons are based on HMH ELD mini-lessons and are designed to help students build confidence using English in meaningful, everyday situations.

Throughout this module, students will practice using English across four important language domains: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.

💬 Our Essential Question

How can we share our ideas and respectfully agree or disagree with others?

Students will learn that people may have different opinions and that we can share our own ideas while listening respectfully to others.

👂 Listening

Students will practice listening carefully to understand what others are saying.

They will learn how to:

• Listen for important ideas and details.
• Identify whether someone agrees or disagrees.
• Show that they understand what another person is saying.
• Listen respectfully even when they have a different opinion.
• Use what they hear to help form their own ideas.

🗣️ Speaking

Students will build confidence expressing their ideas in English.

They will practice:

• Sharing their opinions and ideas.
• Saying “I agree” and “I disagree” respectfully.
• Giving a reason to explain their thinking.
• Asking questions about someone else's ideas.
• Responding to what another person says.
• Using complete sentences when speaking.

Students may use sentence frames such as:

“I agree because…”
“I disagree because…”
“I think…”
“In my opinion…”
“I understand your idea, but…”
“I agree with you because…”

📖 Reading

Students will read short texts and practice understanding different ideas and opinions.

They will work on:

• Identifying the main idea and important details.
• Finding information in a text that supports an idea.
• Understanding new vocabulary using context clues.
• Identifying an author's opinion or point of view.
• Comparing ideas and deciding whether they agree or disagree.
• Using evidence from the text to explain their thinking.

✏️ Writing

Students will practice expressing their ideas in writing.

They will learn how to:

• Write about their opinions.
• State whether they agree or disagree.
• Give reasons for their ideas.
• Use details from a text or discussion to support their thinking.
• Write complete sentences.
• Organize their ideas so they are clear to the reader.

Our goal is for students to become more comfortable using English to share what they think and explain why they think it.

🧠 Vocabulary & Language

As we work through the module, students will learn and practice vocabulary connected to ideas, opinions, reasons, and respectful communication.

Some words and phrases we may practice include:

agree • disagree • opinion • idea • reason • because • explain • think • believe • understand • same • different • important • evidence

Students will practice using these words when they listen, speak, read, and write.

🏠 How Can You Help at Home?

You can support your child's English development through simple conversations at home!

Try asking:

“What do you think?”
“Do you agree or disagree? Why?”
“What is your reason?”
“What did you read about?”
“What evidence supports your idea?”
“What did someone else say? Do you agree with them?”
“Can you explain your thinking?”

You can even choose simple topics from everyday life:

🍎 Which fruit is the best?
📚 Is reading at home important?
🐶 Are dogs good pets?
🌳 Should children spend more time outside?
🎮 Is it better to play games or read a book?

Encourage your child to answer in English when possible and to explain why they think that way.

❤️ Our Goal

Our goal is not only for students to learn English words and grammar, but to become confident communicators.

By the end of this module, students will have more practice listening to others, expressing their own ideas, reading and understanding information, and writing about their thinking.

Most importantly, students will learn that it is okay for people to have different ideas. We can agree, disagree, listen, and communicate respectfully.

We are excited to learn and grow together!

Happy Learning! 📚✨

Ms. Yamashev
Elementary ELD