Learning to read in English involves much more than recognising letters on a page.
Before young learners can read independently, they need opportunities to listen, talk, notice sounds, build vocabulary, understand stories and play with language. For children who are learning English as an additional language, these experiences are especially valuable because they develop English alongside the early literacy skills needed for reading.
The good news is that early literacy practice does not always need worksheets or formal reading exercises.
Stories, pictures, songs, rhymes, movement and conversation can all become powerful learning tools.
Here are seven playful activities that can help young EAL learners get ready to read.
1. Talk About the Pictures Before Reading
Before opening a book and reading the words, spend some time looking at the cover or illustrations.
Ask simple questions:
What can you see?
Who is this?
Where are they?
What is the boy doing?
How does she feel?
For beginning EAL learners, provide sentence starters:
I can see…
There is…
The girl is…
I think…
Children do not need to produce long answers. Even naming an object such as dog, tree or house is meaningful language practice.
As learners become more confident, ask predictive questions:
What do you think will happen?
Why is the character sad?
Where do you think they are going?
This gives children useful vocabulary before they encounter the story itself and helps them connect pictures with meaning.
2. Play “Finish the Rhyme”
Rhyming is a simple and enjoyable way to help children listen closely to the sounds in words.
Start with familiar word pairs:
cat – hat
dog – frog
star – car
Say two or three words and ask children which ones rhyme.
You can also say a short sentence and pause before the final word:
I see a cat wearing a…
Children might shout:
hat!
For beginners, show two or three pictures so they can choose rather than having to produce the word independently.
Another option is a rhyme hunt.
Give children a word such as cake and show pictures of a snake, ball, lake and fish.
Ask:
Which words rhyme with cake?
These activities help children pay attention to how English words sound while keeping the experience playful.
3. Become Sound Detectives
Young learners can also practise listening for the first sound in words.
Choose one target sound, for example /m/.
Show or place several objects around the classroom:
moon – apple – mouse – sun – milk – book
Ask:
Can you find something that begins with /m/?
Students might choose:
mouse
milk
You can turn this into a movement activity by asking children to walk around the room looking for pictures or objects beginning with the target sound.
For EAL learners, always check that they know the vocabulary first. A child cannot easily identify the beginning sound of an English word if they do not know what the object is called.
So the sequence might be:
See the picture → learn the word → say the word → listen for the first sound.
This keeps phonics connected to meaning.
4. Put a Story in Order
Understanding that stories happen in a sequence is an important part of early reading comprehension.
After reading a short story, give children three or four pictures showing important events.
Mix them up.
Students work together to put them in the correct order.
Then practise simple sequencing language:
First…
Next…
Then…
Finally…
Beginning EAL learners might simply say:
First, the boy wakes up.
Then, he eats breakfast.
More confident learners can add details.
You can also remove one picture and ask:
What happened here?
Children then have to remember or predict the missing part of the story.
The activity combines comprehension, speaking and early narrative skills.
5. Act Out the Story
Young children often understand more when they can connect language with movement.
After reading a familiar story, choose a few important actions and act them out together.
If the story includes a character who:
runs → stops → knocks on a door → opens it → hides
children can perform each action while hearing and repeating the language.
Later, assign simple character roles.
You do not need elaborate costumes. A paper crown, toy animal, scarf or simple picture card can be enough to represent a character.
Provide useful language:
Who are you?
I am the wolf.
Where are you going?
I am going home.
How do you feel?
I am scared.
Acting gives EAL learners another way to demonstrate understanding even when they cannot yet explain everything verbally.
It also turns the language in the book into something they can experience and use.
6. Make a Story Basket
A story basket contains a few objects or pictures connected to a familiar story.
For example, for a story involving a bear in the forest, the basket might contain:
- a toy bear;
- a small tree;
- a toy house;
- a piece of blue fabric for a river;
- picture cards showing the characters.
After reading, students use the objects to retell the story.
Beginning learners may simply name them:
Bear.
House.
River.
Later, encourage complete sentences:
The bear is in the forest.
The bear goes to the river.
Eventually, students can use the objects to create a completely new story.
This progression is useful for EAL learners:
Name → describe → retell → create.
The objects provide visual and physical support while children’s language gradually becomes more independent.
7. Make Print Part of Everyday Classroom Life
Early literacy does not only happen during reading lessons.
Children can begin noticing written English throughout the classroom.
Label familiar objects:
door
window
table
book
chair
Then turn the labels into activities.
Ask:
Can you find the word “door”?
Or remove several labels and ask students to put them back in the correct places.
You can also create a simple word wall using vocabulary students already know.
Organise words by topic:
Animals
cat
dog
fish
School
book
pen
bag
Colours
red
blue
green
The important point is that the written words should connect to language children already understand.
Reading becomes much more meaningful when students recognise that the word chair represents the object they already know and can talk about.
Don’t Forget Conversation
One of the simplest early literacy activities requires no resources at all: talking with children.
During a story, ask questions.
After a story, talk about favourite characters.
During play, describe what students are doing.
Instead of only asking questions that have one correct answer, occasionally ask:
What do you think?
Why?
What would you do?
Beginning EAL learners may answer with one word, a gesture, or a short phrase. That is fine.
The aim is to create opportunities for meaningful communication and gradually extend the language.
If a child says:
Dog.
the adult might respond:
Yes, it’s a big brown dog. The dog is running.
The child’s contribution is accepted, while the teacher naturally models richer English.
Support the Home Language Too
Children who use another language at home do not need to stop using it to learn English.
Families can continue reading books, telling stories, singing songs and having rich conversations in the language they know best.
A family story told by a grandparent, a favourite rhyme from home or a bedtime story in another language is still a valuable language experience.
For teachers, children’s home languages can also become part of classroom life.
For example, you might ask families how to say a familiar word in their language or invite children to share a song or rhyme they know.
This sends an important message: learning English does not require children to leave the language they already have outside the classroom.
Scaffold First, Then Gradually Remove the Support
When an EAL learner struggles with a reading-readiness activity, the problem is not always the concept itself.
Sometimes the student simply does not yet have enough English to show what they understand.
Useful support might include:
- pictures;
- gestures;
- real objects;
- repetition;
- sentence starters;
- word banks;
- choices;
- modelling.
Instead of asking:
“What do you think is going to happen next in the story?”
a beginner might initially choose between two pictures.
Later they might complete:
I think the ___ will…
Eventually, they may answer independently.
The support changes as the learner becomes more confident.
Keep Early Literacy Playful
Young children do not need every literacy activity to feel like a test.
They can learn about language while:
- singing;
- moving;
- listening;
- matching;
- sorting;
- pretending;
- drawing;
- talking;
- playing with sounds.
A five-minute rhyme game repeated regularly may be more valuable than a complicated activity that children find difficult to understand.
Repetition is also useful.
Young learners often enjoy hearing the same story, singing the same song or playing the same language game many times. Each repetition gives them another opportunity to notice words and participate more independently.
From Listening to Reading
Early literacy develops gradually.
A child may first listen to a story.
Then they begin to join in with a repeated phrase.
Later they recognise some of the vocabulary.
They begin noticing sounds and letters.
Eventually, they start connecting spoken language with the words they see on the page.
For EAL learners, giving enough time for those stages matters.
The goal is not to rush children toward independent reading, but to build the language, confidence, and curiosity that make reading possible.
Final Thoughts
Helping young EAL learners prepare to read does not have to begin with long lists of words or pages of exercises.
It can begin with a picture.
A rhyme.
A favourite story.
A conversation.
A toy character that helps retell what happened.
Through these small experiences, children are listening to English, discovering how words sound, developing vocabulary, understanding stories and learning that print carries meaning.
When early literacy activities are visual, interactive, and playful, young English learners have more ways to participate—even before they have all the words they need.
And that is an important starting point for becoming both confident English users and confident readers.
Source inspiration: “Getting Ready to Read: Using Storytelling, Rhymes, and More!” from Colorín Colorado, based on U.S. Department of Education parent literacy resources. The activities in this Love4English article have been expanded and adapted specifically for young EAL learners and the English-language classroom.