October EL Tips
Tips and Information to help your English Learners
Dear Teachers,
One of my goals this year is to send a monthly newsletter with information that will help you support the English Learners in your classrooms. Whether your student is new to English or more advanced, I hope that you will find this information benificial. If you discover a resource that might be useful to others, please share it with me and I can put it in the next newsletter. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any concerns about a student.
Sandy Briscoe
English Language Teacher
Annandale Public Schools
One of my goals this year is to send a monthly newsletter with information that will help you support the English Learners in your classrooms. Whether your student is new to English or more advanced, I hope that you will find this information benificial. If you discover a resource that might be useful to others, please share it with me and I can put it in the next newsletter. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any concerns about a student.
Sandy Briscoe
English Language Teacher
Annandale Public Schools
Teacher, Teacher!
Please don't be offended if it takes some time for your student to stop calling you "Teacher." In many cultures it is a sign of respect to refer to teachers in this manner. Some of the parents I speak to even call me, "Maestra" or "Teacher," in order to show their respect for the profession.
Scan & Translate
A special thanks goes out to Katie Zuehlke for finding this gem. The Scan & Translate app allows you to scan a document, grab text, and translate it. I haven't been able to use it with iOS 8, but I'm hoping that the app will be optimized soon to work with the new operating system.
Modeling
It can be difficult for ELs to understand what is expected of them when it comes to new skills and activities. One of the best things you can do for them is to explain and demonstrate what your expectations are. Visuals are a great way to do this, especially if you have samples of student work.
For Your Funny Bone
This video demonstrates how English might sound to non-English speakers.
The Brain as explained by John Cleese