Here is a list of resources that I have been compiling over the years. Most of them are links to texts and curriculum from all over Latin America. Enjoy!
Son antologías que se usan en países de habla hispana de primer grado a 6to grado
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El Salvador
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Home » Posts tagged 'Bilingual Education'
Tag Archives: Bilingual Education
Improvisational ESL
Recently, I was reminded of the power of theater in education. Thinking about students who are new to English… but not completely new… I have been looking at improvisational theater exercises to get students talking. This is not a strategy to teach new vocabulary but to build fluency, spontaneity and confidence while speaking.
Imagine having two students create a skit where someone is lost and the other has to help the first person find his or her way. Imagine adding a third person who says that the first person is wrong. What would you say? What would you do? Can they ask for an additional person to assist?
Make it a little bit harder and open ended: Imagine students creating a skit based off of three nouns- pencil, stove, rake. Throw in a verb and shake things up a bit.
There are a million scenes that you can have students improvise based on anything that students need to practice. Try it; see what happens!
Speaking to My Children- What Language?
The short answer is: speak to your children in the language you know best. Oral language is the precursor to all literacy skills:
- What you can think, you can say;
- what you say you can write;
- what you can write you can read.
When parents ask me what language they should use with their children I consistently tell them to use the language they know best. Most of the time the parents are non-English speakers wondering if they should speak with their children using the little English they know. “No,” I tell them.
When children are offered rich language in extended discourse they develop amazing vocabularies and complex sentences. If their caregivers offer them limited vocabulary and limited discourse that is what the children will develop. Because literacy skills transfer, the extended discourse will transfer once the children have the necessary vocabulary in the new language… but they can’t transfer what they do not know.
- Speak to your children often and listen to their answers.
- Have them tell you stories and ask follow-up questions.
- Ask open ended questions (questions that require more than yes or no).
- Ask them to explain more or tell you what that means.
- Give them new vocabulary as you ask them questions and respond to their stories:
- Child: I used that thing to cut cheese.
- Adult: Oh, you used the cheese slicer.
- Child: Yes, I used the cheese slicer and I cut a lot of cheese.
- When you read with your children ask them questions such as:
- What do you think will happen next?
- Would you have done that?
- How would you solve the problem?
- Tell me the story
- Talk, talk, talk!
There is much research about the importance of oral language. Give your child the gift of language through conversation and story telling.
Literacy creates justice!
Read and Listen Online
I am collecting a list of online places to read and/ or listen to stories in English for elementary school students and families.
What great sites am I missing?
Please let me know and I will add them to my list!
Starfall: http://www.starfall.com/
Reading Bear http://www.readingbear.org/
Storyline http://www.storylineonline.net/
Storynory http://www.storynory.com/
Magic Keys http://www.magickeys.com/books/
Mrs. P http://mrsp.com/
Story Cove http://storycove.com/
Highlights https://www.highlightskids.com/stories
International Children’s Library http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
LibriVox https://librivox.org/
Loyal Books http://www.loyalbooks.com/genre/Children
A Story Before Bed http://www.astorybeforebed.com/storytime
TuneIn Radio http://tunein.com/radio/Childrens-Topics–Stories-g227/
Online Audio Stories
http://www.onlineaudiostories.com/category/all_stories/audio_stories/
Graphic Organizers
If you have not seen these please take a look: Graphic Organizers. Estas ayudas gráficas están disponibles en español también.
Any time we can help students organize their thinking, plan their learning, make their learning visible, we are helping them build connections and increase the number of synapses– that is learning! With graphic organizers we can increase literacy, too.
Literacy Creates Justice!
Modified Guided Reading
Thank you for the question about Modified Guided Reading. Let me start with the link to the original article and a link to an article that explains the original article.
Now that you have read those, I have a copy of my Modified Guided Reading-Plan for you to look at and use.
The results are amazing when done carefully. In order for this to work, though, we have to think about our students and what they know and what they need to learn. When I use this format I pre-teach the aspects that my students will struggle with (you need to know your students!) and work on building oral language around those ideas. By the time they get to the text they will be in that wonderful Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky) and understand most of what they are reading. I try to leave appropriate challenges along the way so that their reading is in the Goldilocks-Zone.
Try it and let me know what you think. If you want some additional coaching please let me know. Remember: Literacy Creates Justice (and it’s fun!).
Earth Alphabet
This is worth looking at- “NASA’s Earth Observatory has tracked down images resembling all 26 letters of the English alphabet using only NASA satellite imagery and astronaut photography.”
Here is the link on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/_5QLUVIaHq/
Here is the link to the whole alphabet: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/ABC/
Wonder at the marvels of the earth as we near the new year!
Language Through Content
Language and content go together. We cannot learn language first and then learn content; nor can we learn content if we do not have the language. Learning to teach in this way is truly worth your while. I have compiled some resources for your continuing education.
How do we best teach language through content? We
- show the movie first
- pre-teach the vocabulary
- use visuals
- make timelines
- use graphic organizers
- act it out
- create podcasts and videos
- interact using the content and the vocabulary
- use realia
Here is a link to many more resources for learning language through content from CAL: http://www.cal.org/twi/rgos/content.html
This link is to a chapter on Teaching Content Through a Second Language that is on the CARLA website and don’t forget about CoBaLTT.
If you or your program need assistance in the area of content instruction in a second (or third…) language please let me know.
Now in Peru!
Last Thursday night we arrived in Lima, Peru! This will be home for the foreseeable future.
We have been enjoying the company of family and friends; we have been searching out places to live; we have been learning from and working with some amazing people; we have been looking for and creating work, ways to share what we know while continuing to grow in knowledge.
There are amazing possibilities in this city of 10 million! If you are looking for a literacy/ language teacher and coach please let me know; I would love to talk to you about the possibilities.
Listen, Watch then Teach
When working with my students in language and literacy I am always looking for data. I don’t, however, rely much on standardized scores and summative assessments. While helpful in a very small way, those types of assessments give me information more about me, the teacher, than about the student. I look for data that I can use.
Every time I have a conversation with students I make notes about their learning, sometimes mental notes and sometimes written notes. I try to keep track of their use of language and their thinking. Every time I read student writing I make notes about their use of language, their ability to express themselves and their accuracy. This is the data that I use.
This is the real-time data that shows me what students know and can do right now. That data is then turned into large group, small group and individual instruction as needed to move all students forward. I encourage students to make mistakes, use big words, enter into debates and not be afraid. It is through making mistakes, I tell them, that I can know what the next steps are in their learning. All done in a supportive environment.
Give it a try; it’s not rocket science. When we pay attention to the students they will show us what they need. When we listen and watch, we will know what to teach.
S. T. Fleming 