Newcomers
Grades 3 and Up
GrapeSEED is a proven oral language development curriculum designed to help English learners speak with confidence, understand with clarity, and thrive in the classroom. Used by schools and districts worldwide, our research-aligned curriculum ensures that students develop English fluency through engaging lessons, songs, and interactive activities.
Newcomer students will focus on vocabulary, useful language functions and expressions, and learn with comprehension as they develop their English skills. Communication with others and academic success are our goals.
Daily Teacher-Led Lessons
Phonemic Awareness
Students develop an ear for the sounds of English through repetition and rhythm, which builds phonemic discrimination (the ability to hear and differentiate sounds). Daily activities include hearing and manipulating sounds which is crucial for early reading development.
Phonics

Students learn to associate phonograms with the sounds they represent and to read and write by assembling them. They learn to read by automatically recognizing phonograms within text and to decode unfamiliar words to improve their reading skills.
Language Development
Students engage in rich, meaningful conversations, songs, and stories that build their confidence in listening, speaking, and understanding language.
Vocabulary
Students expand their vocabulary to communicate effectively in various contexts. Through daily explicit vocabulary instruction in combination with songs, stories, conversations and interactive activities they deepen their understanding and ability to use language with confidence.
Comprehension
Students develop deep comprehension skills by actively engaging with language in meaningful contexts. Students will understand first and then be able to communicate using the language acquired in each unit.
Real Results: SCHOOL DATA SHOWS
NEWCOMER SUCCESS
A recent study conducted in Hazelwood schools, Missouri, revealed that newcomer students who engaged with GrapeSEED for at least three lessons per week from August '23 to January '24 significantly outperformed their peers in every assessed area. This includes listening, speaking, reading, writing, and their overall composite score on the Pearson TELL assessment. Remarkably, GrapeSEED students exceeded the anticipated growth of 7 points in all areas of the assessment.
Two Times
GrapeSEED students scored two times higher in the listening category compared to the control group.
Four Times
In speaking, GrapeSEED students achieved scores four times higher than those in the control group.
Nearly Two Times
The overall composite score of GrapeSEED students was nearly double that of the control group.
How does GrapeSEED Work for Newcomers?
GrapeSEED follows a structured, research-aligned approach to oral language acquisition:
- Immersive Learning: Students engage in daily teacher-led lessons with real-world language through songs, stories, and activities.
- Interactive Speaking Practice: Focuses on natural conversation skills and confidence-building. ️
- Comprehension & Critical Listening: Strengthens comprehensible input and listening skills for better classroom engagement.
- Repetition & Reinforcement: A spiraled approach ensures students retain and apply language skills.
- Gradual Progression: Students master foundational English skills and build upon them with each lesson.
Empowering Success in the Classroom
Newcomers face unique challenges. Unlike most language programs that emphasize reading and writing early on, GrapeSEED prioritizes listening and speaking first. This mirrors natural language acquisition, similar to how children learn their home or heritage language. Newcomer students need a strong foundation in oral language to succeed. GrapeSEED provides a comprehensive, research-based solution designed to help English learners quickly develop listening, speaking, and comprehension skills through engaging, structured lessons.
What GrapeSEED Includes
GrapeSEED offers a comprehensive and engaging English language program designed specifically for newcomers. Each year, students will explore five theme-based units, with thirty lessons each, that introduce and reinforce language skills through a spiral review approach.
Engaging Learning Materials
- Each unit is filled with songs, stories, big books, poems, and action activities that actively engage multilingual learners in developing their language.
- Captivate students new to the United States with beloved characters, vibrant visuals, and interactive activities that give students an immersive learning experience that sparks curiosity and joy with every lesson.
Teacher-Led Daily Lessons
- Include a gradual release of responsibility empowering newcomers to build independence over time.
- Designed to develop both verbal and language art skills
Comprehensive Teacher Support
- Foundation Training is one full day of interactive, practice-based professional development that provides the foundational knowledge and skills to be fully prepared to teach GrapeSEED lessons like a pro!
- Each district will have their very own Professional Learning Specialist and have the opportunity to participate in support sessions at the teacher's convenience.
We use GrapeSEED with K-5 students- whoever is beginning to learn English... All the kids want to come to the GrapeSEED lessons. They are all engaged. That’s something that I couldn’t get when I had to pull everything together myself. Having all this curriculum ready to go for me frees up my brain so I have more energy to put into using what’s there and making it even more engaging for the kids. I don’t have to spend so much time finding things myself. It’s all there for me and I love that.
Mr Rhodes, IN
17-year veteran ESL teacher
Discover the GrapeSEED Advantage
- GrapeSEED is a comprehensive language acquisition curriculum that ensures newcomer success. Our spiral curriculum offers enhanced long-term retention resulting in communicative proficiency, deeper conceptual understanding, all while reinforcing knowledge and building upon prior learning.
- Accelerates English Fluency – Immersive, research-aligned approach that builds language skills naturally
- Engaging Multi-Modal Approach – Songs, stories, and interactive activities make learning enjoyable thereby lowering students’ affective filters allowing language acquisition to occur faster.
- Supports Teachers & Schools – Easy implementation with comprehensive teacher and classroom materials, professional development, and dedicated implementation support, all of which focus on ensuring student success.
- Proven Results – Schools using GrapeSEED report significant improvements in oral language and confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Explore the answers to common questions about GrapeSEED and how it can benefit your newcomers.
How do I know where to start students in GrapeSEED lessons?
Students are placed into classes according how long they have been in the United States. Newcomer students begin with Unit 1 while students who have been in a US school for one academic year begin in year 2 and students who have been in a US school for 2 years begin in year 3 of our curriculum.
Where do I place newcomers that move in throughout the year?
GrapeSEED recognizes that newcomer students move in to schools throughout the year. We have a variety of suggestions and implementation will depend on your daily schedule and many other factors. We are happy to talk to you about these solutions.
Is GrapeSEED appropriate for older newcomers?
GrapeSEED has been succesfully used with older elementary school, junior high, highschool and even adults.
