Hi,
I'm a new ELL teacher at the k-5 level, and I'm a little overwhelmed as I look through catalogues trying to determine what I should buy for my classroom. Please let me know what books, computer programs, cds, or other materials you have in your classroom that you can't live without!
What to use in a k-5 ELL classroom...
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NEvangelista
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sat Oct 02, 2004 2:43 am
Some suggestions
Depends what instructional model your school district is using and on the level of your kids! I like the Oxford Picture Dictionary for Kids, plus the charts/posters and the four reproducible books sold on altaesl.com for beginners in English. It will not be as appropriate for intermediate or higher levels. You will need a ton of visual aids, which you can make yourself using cut-outs from a magazine; another alternative is ordering the photo libraries from lakeshorelearning.com. I actually like a lot of the products from lakeshorelearning.com, particularly their flannelboard pieces, which serve as useful visual and storytelling aids for kids.
Right now, I am teaching mostly 1st and 2nd graders, and I am not using any special ESL products. I'm using preschool products, and that seems to be working fine. I am using the flannel board pieces for "Brown Bear Brown Bear, what do you see?" and "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, what do you hear?" along with the books. Kids are generating a lot of language and seem to be enjoying themselves.
I also use a lot of poetry on charts or poster board for shared (choral) reading. The kids love it if their are poems where you can substitute their name. See http://www.kinderkorner.com/names2.html for ideas. Also, I have mixed my own CDs of music to use in the classroom using classic children's songs as well as educational songs.
A computer program I have used is Rosetta Stone. I really like this one, but it is EXPENSIVE. For your young learners who are just learning print-sound correspondence, www.starfall.com is a good website.
Hope this helped.
Right now, I am teaching mostly 1st and 2nd graders, and I am not using any special ESL products. I'm using preschool products, and that seems to be working fine. I am using the flannel board pieces for "Brown Bear Brown Bear, what do you see?" and "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, what do you hear?" along with the books. Kids are generating a lot of language and seem to be enjoying themselves.
I also use a lot of poetry on charts or poster board for shared (choral) reading. The kids love it if their are poems where you can substitute their name. See http://www.kinderkorner.com/names2.html for ideas. Also, I have mixed my own CDs of music to use in the classroom using classic children's songs as well as educational songs. A computer program I have used is Rosetta Stone. I really like this one, but it is EXPENSIVE. For your young learners who are just learning print-sound correspondence, www.starfall.com is a good website.
Hope this helped.
Materials (Potato Pals)
Hello!
A little biased on this subject as I have spent a lot of time working on some materials for kids which were published this year. They might be the sort of thing that you are looking for. I did my best to make them as versatile as possible. You can check them out at
http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/isbn/8999?cc=global
A little biased on this subject as I have spent a lot of time working on some materials for kids which were published this year. They might be the sort of thing that you are looking for. I did my best to make them as versatile as possible. You can check them out at
http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/isbn/8999?cc=global
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Senorita Daniels
- Posts: 202
- Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:11 pm
I think that you should have a copy of any textbook that the "main" teachers use, so that you have an idea of what kind of vocabulary to focus on. You don't want the kids to get behind. I see my job as to get the students so caught up with their English that they don't need me anymore. The thought of working myself out of a job isn't good, but that's really why I'm here at an elementary school.
I have the Rosetta Stone program at home to help me review Russian (on of my majors), and I don't think that it's much help.
I started taking pictures of a lot of things so that I could make my own Picture Dictionary for my own use. It could have any kind of diagrams, shapes, etc. that you need.
I have the Rosetta Stone program at home to help me review Russian (on of my majors), and I don't think that it's much help.
I started taking pictures of a lot of things so that I could make my own Picture Dictionary for my own use. It could have any kind of diagrams, shapes, etc. that you need.
Visual aids are important as is a variety of activities you offer.
Try to use all the kids senses: hearing, seeing, feeling (smelling and tasting will only work with the food units...)
I have invented my own picture cards. I went to google.com and entered what I was looking for in "Images". Then I checked to see if the pictures are copyrighted and if they weren't, I saved them and printed them out. Lacking expensive color ink, I only searched for black-and-white pictures. You can have the kids color the picture cards in art class or at home if you agree on that. I always laminate the picture cards so they will endure everyday classroom life.
It works even easier with word cards. Just use a huge font size and print it out and laminate the paper and there you are. Lasting (half) a lifetime.
Make sure the kids hear different people speak, like dialogues on cassette or CD, songs, chants and stories can be a nice change for the kids.
I have had amazing results with chants. The good news is: even my croaky voice which is not brilliant with singing, is sounding alright in a chant. The kids have caught up wonderfully. Usually, they speak slower in the foreign language. The chants are sometimes really quick but they can do that. If you can, get a chant-CD with playbacks also. It is a high challenge to my students to manage on their own.
We hear a chant once, then twice again during which the kids can chant along if they want to. I chant enthusiastically though which is catchy as well. Next lesson, we hear it again while some chant along, then I ask all students to chant along. In the end of the lesson, I ask them if they dare try a halfplayback or playback. (I get the feeling while watching the kids. When no one is daring to chant loudly but only one or two whisper along, there is another problem involved. My current class is wonderful though. Sometimes, you can even act out the chant with the kids.)
Maybe that is helpful...
--- I just noticed you posted your message almost a year ago. It would be interesting to hear about your experience now. ---
Try to use all the kids senses: hearing, seeing, feeling (smelling and tasting will only work with the food units...)
I have invented my own picture cards. I went to google.com and entered what I was looking for in "Images". Then I checked to see if the pictures are copyrighted and if they weren't, I saved them and printed them out. Lacking expensive color ink, I only searched for black-and-white pictures. You can have the kids color the picture cards in art class or at home if you agree on that. I always laminate the picture cards so they will endure everyday classroom life.
It works even easier with word cards. Just use a huge font size and print it out and laminate the paper and there you are. Lasting (half) a lifetime.
Make sure the kids hear different people speak, like dialogues on cassette or CD, songs, chants and stories can be a nice change for the kids.
I have had amazing results with chants. The good news is: even my croaky voice which is not brilliant with singing, is sounding alright in a chant. The kids have caught up wonderfully. Usually, they speak slower in the foreign language. The chants are sometimes really quick but they can do that. If you can, get a chant-CD with playbacks also. It is a high challenge to my students to manage on their own.
We hear a chant once, then twice again during which the kids can chant along if they want to. I chant enthusiastically though which is catchy as well. Next lesson, we hear it again while some chant along, then I ask all students to chant along. In the end of the lesson, I ask them if they dare try a halfplayback or playback. (I get the feeling while watching the kids. When no one is daring to chant loudly but only one or two whisper along, there is another problem involved. My current class is wonderful though. Sometimes, you can even act out the chant with the kids.)
Maybe that is helpful...
--- I just noticed you posted your message almost a year ago. It would be interesting to hear about your experience now. ---