Guided Reading in ESL Class

This school year, my English for Beginners class is quite different than last year's class. This year I have a lot more newcomers <1 year in the USA than I did last school year. 
Just in case you didn't know, this is only my second year teaching HS ESL and I'm loving it! 

One of the challenges I am facing this school year is having so many different levels of English proficiency in one class. This is a challenge when planning one whole group lessons and not all your students are at the same level on the proficiency continuum.
My biggest group is in the entering stages of  the continuum (Level 1), a couple in the beginning stages (Level 2), and another group of 5 students are in the developing stages (Level 3). 

Of course providing whole group instruction would not provide all with the needed support to grow linguistically. I've tried a couple of lessons but I still had to end up diving students in the corresponding groups to work with students at their level. 

So what I started doing is working in small groups! I started assigning them readings and projects as groups and they work with peers completing the assignment if they are not in a group with me. These assignments could be assigned by language domain or a project of choice. 
I created this Wakelet with resources they can use to help them practice each language domain.

• Listening Wakelet
• Reading Wakelet
• Speaking Wakelet
• Writing Wakelet 

This month during Hispanic Heritage Month, students are reading and presenting on Latina Writers. ReadWorks has great short reading on this topic.

Students read the article, create a poster including: Who, When, Where, and What (3 facts).
When a group is done researching a topic, they get a chance to present to the rest of the class. 

These presentations serve as guide to co-create our notes on each presentation.  ​

Teacher Group

I get to see all three groups in one block. Each group receives different support but all groups are receiving guided reading. This year we are using Saddleback Books. Through Donors Choose and SaddleBack, our class received two Newcomers Starter Kits. Each kit comes with about 20 titles and with 3 copies of each book. 
The kit comes with a teachers guide and ideas for students to respond to the text. 

I am LOVING the engagement my students are experiencing while reading these compelling books. The level of the text is not complicated but at the same time is not baby text that bores them. I have them read chorally, read to one another, help one another, and complete the "worksheet" as a group work vs working individually. 
My higher group writes a response to the text by providing a paragraph on what they read. They are practicing to summarize and add their own detail based on their learning. 

If you have any ideas you'd like to share with me, please send me an email or reply a comment. I'd like to know other resources and ways I can use in my English for Beginners class.
As we continue in the semester, I will be sharing more ways of learning we are incorporating in our class...so, stay tuned!! 

Thank you so much for reading!