Be a language role model. One way that children develop oral language skills is through hearing other people talk. By using rich vocabulary, abstract words and a variety of grammatical forms, you will stimulate children's interest in language and aid their development at the same time.
Encourage interaction. As children also learn from each other, provide lots of opportunities for interaction. Games, play, group activities and projects will promote conversation, questioning and discussion among children that will expand and develop their oral language skills.
Read together. Sharing a book is an ideal way to learn new words and create opportunities for conversation. Ideas include asking children to describe the thoughts and feelings of characters, predicting events in a story and retelling a story in their own words. With prompting, children should be able to make connections between a story and their real-life experiences. Encourage children to share these experiences with the rest of the class.
Use shared writing. In shared writing, the teacher acts as a scribe while students verbally create a piece of writing. Shared writing is especially useful, as it teaches children how to organize and structure their thoughts. Choose a shared experience to write about --- like a field trip or class activity. Ask children questions that encourage them to verbalize their memories and feelings about the experience and write them down. When the children have finished this assignment, examine and reread the piece with the students.
Use dramatic play, where children adopt a role. This type of play allows children to be spontaneous and experimental with language. It can be used to act out a favorite story and a real or imagined activity like visiting a museum or riding on a subway. Props may help to stimulate creativity and can be used to promote discussion; for example, ask what the prop is and how it might be used.