After 20 years of teaching languages, I thought switching from Spanish to ESL would be simple. I quickly discovered that English phonics is anything but straightforward. When my students struggled to decode words, a structured literacy approach changed everything. That journey led to the creation of ESL Word Nerds—resources designed to make English decoding accessible, meaningful, and age-appropriate for multilingual high school students.

Newcomers bring strong language foundations, but English sound–letter patterns are often unfamiliar. ESL Word Nerds begins with simple phonics so students can decode words successfully, then pairs that decoding with rich visuals to attach meaning. Grounded in the Simple View of Reading — decoding plus comprehension — the approach helps students understand what they read while building confidence. Designed for multilingual learners, it integrates listening, speaking, reading, and writing in alignment with WIDA, making language visible, logical, and accessible from day one.

Multilingual learners do not need less structure — they need clearer structure. Structured literacy makes English visible, predictable, and accessible.