| I’ll be honest, addressing the diverse needs of 26 or so enthusiastic English-speaking students kept this teacher on her tiptoes. I’ve never had the pleasure of working with a child who did not understand or speak English. My first priority would be to help the youngster feel welcome. After that, I’d do my best to address his or her educational needs. But how? What tips do you have for welcoming and working with English language learners?Eager to hear! Diane |
Find a resource before the Child starts to get survival words such as bathroom, water, sick etc. You cannot truly be there for the child unless you get their immediate needs. Children truly pick up languages much quicker than we do. I have always found it an exciting experience to have a child with ESS/ESL
I also make sure I have object pictures in my classroom its a huge help.
My first year of teaching I had 18 children that did not speak English. I had lots of pictures to guide the children. I also had vocabulary words which allowed me to teach the children in English and for them to teach me Spanish. My children loved it and started doing it at home. There are many websites that will help you learn another language. I also found an app for my phone that allowed me to type or speak in English and it would speak what I was saying in Spanish.
Michelle and Darlene both have great ideas. I am at an advantage in my classroom because I am a bilingual teacher and therefore I speak the language I am teaching, but with that said I also have to instruct my students from other classes who are E.S.L students. It is very important to use as many resources available. Use as many manipulatives as possible and use a Total Physical Approach that involves you basically being silly and using your gestures and movements to represent what you are trying to get across. Even if the child knows some English, when you speak he/she only picks up bits and pieces of what you have said, much like a bad connection during a phone call. You really never understand what is being said totally so it is always important to “act out” and break it down for comprehension. You don’t need to worry about the other kids because they will think you are fun and will understand even better themselves.
This year I have 34 ESL kiddos in my 3rd grade classroom. We do a lot with the hand/body gestures, I model how to say something and then have the class repeat it. New vocabulary is supported with pictures (I’m not allowed to teach in Spanish – AZ passed that law a few years ago.) I repeat lessons quite a bit … starting easy and scaffolding up to grade level. When we are writing sentences, I have them draw a matching picture – that tells me if they really understand what the sentence is telling them. A lot of the ESL methodologies are used in my room … 4 Picture Story Frame, Syntax Surgery, This or That, Vocabulary Frames, Sentence Frames, etc. Since we now have new ELD Standards, I am introducing Idiom Hieroglyphs. My students also do a lot of partner talk – to practice the new concepts that they are learning.
When I have had children that do not speak english, I use a lot of pictures (I do this for Kindergarten anyway) and hand signals and gestures. I also try to learn a few words in the child’s language so he/she can see that learning is a lifelong career goal. And the child gets a kick out of helping me to pronounce/learn the correct words.
Our school is growing by leaps and bounds and we are truly grateful for each student that enters our doors. Our ESL poplulation has grown tremendously and our staff has tried to stay on top of our changing population and their diverse needs in our classrooms.
My number one priority for my kids is to build as much background as I can for any topic we are studying. I teach C.A. and Social Studies. Vocabulary growth is a must. The students love creating their own subject dictionaries that include the word, definition, sentence, and illustration. These fun and artistic assignments show me that my students understand the vocabulary for the upcoming units.